Sorbonne Abu Dhabi declares 2026 its ‘Year of AI’

Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi declaring a ‘Year of AI’ is a good example of how the Gulf is trying to turn enormous AI spending into durable human capital. Framing AI as a vehicle for critical thinking rather than a replacement for it is not just PR; it’s a direct response to concerns in education systems that students will lean on models instead of learning how to reason. The programme links classroom initiatives, research via the Sorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence, and public events, tying into the UAE’s national AI strategy and its push to be seen as a global AI hub.

In the race to AGI, these institutional moves matter because they shape who will be ready to work with and govern increasingly capable systems. The UAE has already invested heavily in model training, data centers and specialist universities like MBZUAI; now it is pushing AI literacy deeper into its broader university ecosystem. If successful, this can seed a generation of graduates who are comfortable treating AI as an instrument rather than an oracle—exactly the mindset you want in a world of fallible but powerful general systems. It also shows how small but wealthy states can punch above their weight by combining infrastructure with curated academic networks rather than just writing cheques to foreign labs.