OpenAI has significantly bolstered its presence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by introducing local data residency options, a move that aligns with the nation’s growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. This development comes as the company reports a tripling of its user base in the UAE over the past year, with 60% of residents aged 18–24 and half of those aged 25–34 using ChatGPT weekly. The new data residency feature, now available for ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Edu, and OpenAI’s API platform, enables businesses, public-sector entities, and educational institutions to store data locally, ensuring compliance with national governance and operational requirements. Farouk El Hamzawi, Head of Enterprise for OpenAI MENA, emphasized that the UAE’s AI adoption is progressing at a “remarkable pace,” driven by a clear long-term national strategy under the UAE Vision 2031 initiative. Major UAE organizations, including G42, Mubadala, Khalifa University, and NYU Abu Dhabi, are leveraging OpenAI’s technologies to enhance productivity, research, and AI-driven innovation. The launch of the data residency feature follows OpenAI’s earlier announcement of Stargate UAE, a collaborative data-center project with the UAE Government, G42, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco, and SoftBank, aimed at supporting the country’s AI infrastructure needs. OpenAI has assured that the feature adheres to enterprise-grade security standards, including data encryption, exclusion of customer data from model training, and customizable retention policies. This strategic expansion underscores the UAE’s position as a regional leader in AI adoption and technological advancement.
UAE: OpenAI launches local data residency; 6 in 10 young residents use ChatGPT weekly
