OpenAI rolls out UAE data residency to help businesses meet compliance and scale AI use
Dubai: OpenAI has expanded its data residency options to the UAE, a move that gives businesses, public-sector entities and education providers the ability to store data at rest within the country when using ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Edu or OpenAI’s API platform.
The company said the update is designed to help organisations in the UAE meet national compliance, governance and operational requirements while continuing to scale their use of artificial intelligence.
Demand for AI grows across the UAE
The UAE remains one of the fastest-growing markets for AI adoption. OpenAI’s user base in the country has tripled over the past year. The company says around 60% of people aged 18 to 24 use ChatGPT every week, alongside half of those between 25 and 34.
This rise in everyday usage is mirrored on the enterprise side. Companies and institutions including G42, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Aldar, MBZUAI, Khalifa University, NYU Abu Dhabi, Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE University and Tabby are integrating OpenAI models into their workflows to improve productivity and accelerate innovation. Many of these efforts align with the UAE Vision 2031 strategy, which calls for AI to be embedded across the economy.
Helping organisations meet evolving rules
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in operations, businesses face growing questions about where data is housed and what regulatory frameworks apply. OpenAI’s new data-residency option allows UAE organisations to meet local requirements while maintaining access to enterprise-grade AI tools.
“Organisations across the UAE are adopting AI at a remarkable pace, supported by the Government’s clear long-term vision and commitment to technology leadership,” said Farouk El Hamzawi, Head of Enterprise, OpenAI MENA. “As the UAE advances its Vision 2031 goals and the work of the Office of Artificial Intelligence drives national adoption, we are proud to expand our data-residency options to support this ambition. This step gives UAE institutions greater choice and confidence as they build with AI, and we look forward to continuing to partner across the public and private sectors to help realise this vision.”
A continuation of national-scale AI infrastructure
The expansion follows OpenAI’s earlier announcement of Stargate UAE, a national data-centre cluster created in partnership with the UAE Government, G42, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco and SoftBank. Stargate is intended to support long-term AI capability and infrastructure development in the region.
The new residency option marks another milestone in building secure and scalable AI systems inside the Emirates. It gives institutions the flexibility to adopt advanced tools while keeping data governed under local standards.
Strengthening privacy and security
OpenAI said the UAE data-residency rollout sits on top of its broader enterprise privacy and security commitments. These include encrypted data at rest and in transit, configurable retention policies and a Data Processing Addendum available to enterprise customers. Crucially, enterprise or API data is not used to train OpenAI models by default.
Source: www.gulfnews.com