Scale AI launches UAE entity at Dubai International Financial Centre

A permanent base in Dubai

According to Scale, the launch follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Presight signed earlier this month, and together the two steps mark "a new phase" of its work in the UAE. The company says establishing its entity at DIFC gives its presence a permanent footing and supports its commitment to work alongside UAE institutions, partners and talent for years to come.

Scale pointed to the Dubai AI Campus at DIFC, inaugurated in 2024 as part of the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence. The campus and its dedicated AI License make it easier for technology companies to build in Dubai, the company said, and it thanked DIFC for its welcome.

What Scale says it will offer

Scale describes its mission as developing reliable AI for the world's most important decisions. The company says it works with leading frontier AI labs and develops evaluations and benchmarks that help the industry measure how advanced models perform. It says it will bring the same rigor to UAE institutions, with systems that operate reliably in Arabic, meet local governance requirements and keep people in control.

The company outlined three areas of work:

• Evaluation: determining what a system must reliably do, then testing it against that standard before launch and after.
• Governance: building oversight into the system from the start, including human review where decisions require it.
• Skills: training local teams to operate, evaluate and improve these systems themselves, so the capability stays in the country.

As evidence of its regional track record, Scale says that in Qatar it has trained or upskilled nearly 6,000 people, and that applications it built there are in everyday use by the public.

Sovereignty and the UAE's AI policy

Scale framed the launch against the UAE's national AI agenda. It cited the country's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, which brings together ambitions for better public services, a thriving AI ecosystem, skilled talent and effective governance. It also referred to the Charter for the Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, which emphasizes safety, privacy, transparency, human oversight and accountability.

The company said it sees sovereignty as control and choice over data, deployment, models and governance, including the freedom to adapt or change systems as needs evolve. In its words, its job is to help UAE institutions keep that control as they turn their ambitions into dependable services.

What it means for UAE organizations

For government bodies and enterprises in the UAE, the launch means a local Scale presence focused on testing, oversight and training rather than only on supplying technology. Scale invited anyone building with AI in the country, whether in government, in an enterprise or as an engineer who wants to join the company, to get in touch. The announcement gave no details on pricing, staffing levels or specific projects beyond the Presight MoU.