Dubai swaps apps for AI agents in its race to lead the next wave of tech

Dubai is making a shift in its annual app competition, replacing it with the Create AI Agents Championship. This change comes as the city aims to become a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. Launched in 2023, the competition has drawn applications from 153 countries, with over 9,754 entries this year alone. It has produced 1,700 prototypes and more than 140 live apps, with over 250 global mentors involved.

The new AI Agents Championship features a significant shift from the previous app-based competition. AI agents can be given a goal and work towards it with limited human input, offering a more advanced level of functionality compared to chatbots which simply answer questions. This technology is seen as a natural progression for the competition, allowing participants to build systems that not only answer questions but carry out tasks and make decisions autonomously.

Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, announced the new format, stating the ambition to make Dubai the first city to lead innovation in this field. The competition aims to foster productivity, enabling small startups to compete with large corporations through AI tools and agentic AI. Entrants must identify a real problem, build an AI agent to solve it, test its impact, and demonstrate its potential for business applications.

The winners of the Create AI Agents Championship will receive substantial prizes, with the overall winner and AI Agent of the Year taking home around €232,000 (AED 1 million). The competition encourages participants of all ages, including teenagers, to compete with startups and established firms. By fostering a culture that involves young innovators early on, Dubai aims to shape the future of its economy through agentic AI.