du, the UAE’s leading telecom and digital services provider, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Open Innovation AI. This agreement will support the development of the UAE’s sovereign agentic AI ecosystem.
The partnership, which is being executed in collaboration with the UAE Cyber Security Council, has been formed by du’s digital technology arm, du Tech. The initiative aims to accelerate the adoption of secure, locally governed agentic AI solutions. These solutions will be used across government entities and enterprises.
The deal underscores the UAE’s increased focus on digital sovereignty, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and national cybersecurity. Furthermore, the country is looking to strengthen its position in the global artificial intelligence race.
Creating a Sovereign AI Ecosystem in the UAE
The new partnership seeks to enable the development of AI systems that abide by the UAE’s legal framework. It also aims to satisfy national security and regulatory requirements.
Sovereign AI refers to artificial intelligence workloads, data, models, and infrastructure that operate within a country’s legal and security framework. Meanwhile, this approach is gaining traction across the UAE. As a result, public and private sector organizations are increasingly adopting more sophisticated AI tools.
This collaboration will see du and Open Innovation AI team up to provide secure infrastructure for agentic AI workloads. Agentic AI is a term used to describe AI systems that are capable of executing tasks, making decisions and executing workflows with a greater degree of independence. These systems have more independence than traditional software tools.
du Tech’s National Hypercloud Central to Partnership
Central to the partnership will be du Tech’s National Hypercloud platform. This platform has been certified by the UAE Cyber Security Council.
The platform is expected to support secure AI deployment within the country. By leveraging cloud infrastructure governed locally, UAE organizations will be able to access AI compute capabilities. At the same time, they will keep sensitive data, models and infrastructure in the country.
The partnership combines du’s cloud and digital infrastructure capabilities with Open Innovation AI’s expertise in AI workload orchestration, GPU resource management and AI security.
Supporting Agentic AI Workloads
Under the MoU, du and Open Innovation AI will explore technical integration between du Tech’s National Hypercloud and Open Innovation AI’s platform.
This includes GPU orchestration, AI resource management, sovereign AI platform development, commercial deployment opportunities, and joint go-to-market initiatives.
The idea is to help government organizations and enterprises deploy autonomous AI agents more securely and efficiently. These agents could assist customer service, cybersecurity, operations, data analysis, compliance and enterprise workflow automation.
AI Infrastructure With Security and Compliance Built In
With the growth in use of AI, organizations are placing an increasing focus on where their AI systems reside. They also care about how data is handled and whether infrastructure meets national security requirements.
To address these concerns, the du and Open Innovation AI partnership will build governance around cybersecurity and regulatory compliance. This governance will be built into the AI infrastructure layer.
This approach could allow UAE organizations to leverage advanced AI tools while still maintaining data sovereignty and security standards.
Boosting UAE’s AI Aspirations
The agreement was signed at the Digital Readiness Retreat 2026 in Dubai, a national forum for the digital transformation.
The partnership highlights the UAE’s broader vision of emerging as a leader in AI innovation, digital infrastructure and secure cloud services. By focusing on sovereign AI and agentic AI deployment, the country is paving the way for a more resilient and locally controlled digital economy.
For du, it strengthens the partnership’s stance as a sovereign digital infrastructure provider. For Open Innovation AI, it creates an opportunity to expand the use of its AI orchestration capabilities within a nationally governed ecosystem.
What Comes Next
du and Open Innovation AI plan to assess opportunities to establish sovereign AI and GPU orchestration capabilities. They aim to build these capabilities on du Tech’s National Hypercloud infrastructure.
If successful, the partnership could help accelerate the rollout of secure AI systems across the UAE’s public and private sectors.
The initiative may also help spur more advanced AI agents. These agents can be deployed consistent with stringent national security, compliance and data governance requirements.
Why it matters
This collaboration is significant as it shows how the UAE is moving beyond AI adoption to secure, sovereign AI infrastructure.
As agentic AI becomes more powerful, governments and enterprises will need more control over where they run AI workloads. They will also need stronger control over how they protect sensitive data and meet national regulations.
Du Tech’s certified cloud infrastructure works with Open Innovation AI’s orchestration technology. Together, they are building the foundation for advanced AI systems in the UAE. These systems focus on local governance and strong security.
Businesses could find it easier to deploy AI agents with confidence. Meanwhile, the UAE can strengthen its position as a regional leader in sovereign AI, cybersecurity, and next-generation digital infrastructure.
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