Dubai: GITEX GLOBAL 2025 concluded today after a five-day surge of deal-making and breakthrough unveilings across AI, data infrastructure, cybersecurity, quantum, digital health and biotech – convening more than 6,800 exhibitors, 2,000 startups from 180 countries, and 1,200 investors at Dubai World Trade Centre and Dubai Harbour.

Endorsing the event as a global force in steering the UAE’s AI leadership, Amr Kamel, General Manager at Microsoft UAE, commented, “The UAE is at the forefront of digital transformation, and GITEX continues to be a powerful platform driving this journey forward. The country’s visionary leadership has created an environment where innovation thrives, from embracing AI responsibly to fostering a world-class digital ecosystem that attracts global collaboration and investment.”

In one of the most anticipated sessions of the week, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, joined Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42, for a landmark virtual dialogue on architecting AI-Native Societies – exploring how cross-border partnerships are shaping the foundations of the global AI economy.

Across packed sessions, hundreds of ministers and senior government officials from the UAE, the European Union, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America tackled the questions of trust, regulation and sovereignty in the age of AI – from how to design laws for autonomous systems and defend against quantum-age threats to securing cross-border data flows. Their exchanges signaled a global turning point: nations are no longer catching up with innovation, they are now the co-architects.

Future-critical sectors dominated this year’s edition, with new launches and high-impact dialogues unfolding across GITEX Quantum Expo, Physical Ai, Semicon, Super Data Centres, and GITEX Digi Health & Biotech.

On the show floor and on stage, founders unveiled next-gen innovations: smart contact lenses that estimate glucose from biomarkers, brain-computer implants decoding neural signals, and AI gene-editing tech reprogramming DNA for disease resistance. Meanwhile, global tech enterprises, chipmakers, and cloud innovators, including ai71, Alibaba Cloud, AMD, AWS, e&, G42, Google, HPE, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, and Snowflake, showcased infrastructure breakthroughs built to power sovereign AI workloads and nation-scale intelligence.

Zaid Ghattas, general manager, Middle East, Türkiye and Africa, AMD, said: “It has been a GITEX to remember for AMD and we thank the Dubai World Trade Centre team for hosting another exceptional event. GITEX GLOBAL remains a vital opportunity to connect with our ecosystem and showcase our AI and computing portfolio. We look forward to GITEX 2026, reflecting the exciting digital growth in the UAE and broader Middle East region.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, Miguel Vega, SVP – Database Platform & Cloud Infrastructure, Middle East,Türkiye, and Africa at Oracle, commented: “At GITEX GLOBAL 2025, our focus on ‘Enterprise-Ready AI’ underscored Oracle’s commitment to empowering the UAE’s AI-driven future.” He continued: “We showcased how our distributed cloud and sovereign cloud capabilities are accelerating adoption for key national entities and celebrated the success of our customers and partners, whose groundbreaking AI initiatives powered by Oracle Cloud are shaping the region’s digital economy.”

Tareq Masoud, country manager UAE, Snowflake, further added, “GITEX GLOBAL 2025 has been an extraordinary opportunity for Snowflake to showcase how the AI Data Cloud is helping organisations turn data into real, measurable business value. This year, we’re helping organisations move beyond AI adoption and experimentation into driving real, measurable and impactful business outcomes from their AI, helping them unlock new growth, drive innovation, and build the AI-driven data economies of the future.”

A record number of MoUs were signed during the event, cementing new public-private alliances for digital transformation. Some of the partnerships included Presight and Dubai Taxi Company collaborating to develop AI solutions to accelerate smart, sustainable urban transportation. AWS and e& launched a pioneering nationwide programme to train 30,000 people in AI and cloud across the UAE under the ‘AI Nation – Afaaq’ initiative. Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport announced 19 strategic partnerships on day two alone spanning AI-powered public services, real estate, smart city and mobility ecosystems – the largest single-day commitment in the government of Abu Dhabi’s historic participation at the event.

Chiara Marcati, chief advisory & business officer, ai71, commented, “GITEX GLOBAL 2025 showcased ai71 at a turning point. We demonstrated real AI transformation with the UAE Public Prosecution, announced our DGE partnership for global scale, and proved that Abu Dhabi is building AI that matters, moving from demonstration to deployment.”

At Dubai Harbour, GITEX GLOBAL’s startup showcase, Expand North Star amplified the startup and investor pulse. Founders from over 100 nations connected with investors commanding over $1.1 trillion in assets. Cross-border partnerships and venture launches took shape on the spot. The Supernova Challenge 2.0 with a total prize pool of $ 300,000 crowned Korea’s AIM Intelligence as top winner, alongside second and third prize winners from Chile and Ecuador, underscoring GITEX’s expanding footprint as the world’s largest platform for startup expansion.

In 2026, GITEX is set to reshape the global tech events calendar, launching the world’s first GITEX TechCation from its new home at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City Dubai. Running from December 7-11, 2026, TechCation ushers a new chapter for the world’s largest tech and AI event, moving GITEX beyond the exhibition halls into a citywide activation of immersive experiences anchored in the midst of Dubai’s lifestyle, cultural and tourism season.

GITEX TechCation is designed to encourage extended networking itineraries and longer stays, welcoming international executives and investors to immerse in the city’s dynamic and diverse offerings – from gastronomy to sports and wellness, from arts and culture to outdoor adventures.

The show opens on December 7 with the new outcomes-focused GITEX Scale Summit for global leaders, a dedicated day of high-level strategic dialogues on the decisive trends, opportunities and policy frameworks influencing global AI economies. From December 8-11, the Expo presents the most frontier-pushing innovations across AI x 5.0 industries, from quantum to biosciences and semiconductors, to continue collaborations across future critical sectors.