Brief
UAE launches AI control tower to monitor federal government agents
The system aims to ensure accountability as the UAE targets 50% of federal services to be AI‑driven within two years.
By Felo News Desk · Published
The United Arab Emirates announced the creation of a federal AI control tower that will monitor every AI agent deployed across government ministries, according to Gulf News.
What happened
During a panel at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders in Dubai, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Sultan Al Olama said the control tower will require each AI agent to connect to the platform, logging every decision, thought and action for oversight. The tower will be subject to continuous auditing by both AI systems and human reviewers to prevent agents from exceeding their authorized scope.
What the reports add
Gulf News notes that the control tower is part of a broader federal framework approved by the UAE Cabinet in May, which sets a target of shifting at least half of federal services and operations to agentic AI within two years. The framework also creates dedicated AI teams, performance indicators and an 80,000‑person training programme for federal workers. In addition, the government is developing a Federal Agentic AI Technology Platform (FedAI) and a National AI Gateway to provide secure access to commercial and open‑source models hosted on sovereign infrastructure.
What was said
Al Olama told the forum, "We have an agent control tower on the UAE federal government side that every agent needs to plug into, and every action and every specific thought that the agent thinks of or action that it takes is logged. So, there is an oversight that ensures that we understand what agents are doing, how they're taking certain actions. There's a continuous audit that is being done."
How it came about
The control tower follows the UAE’s April announcement by Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that AI would become an “executive partner” for government. Earlier this month Felo News reported on a related policy red line, noting that AI agents cannot decide on people’s livelihoods and that low‑risk services would be prioritized for automation. The new tower is intended to operationalise those policy safeguards across the federal landscape.
Key facts
- UAE's AI control tower will log every action and thought of federal AI agents. (gulfnews.com)
- The system will be continuously audited by both AI and human reviewers. (gulfnews.com)
- The UAE aims to have AI agents deliver 50% of federal services within two years. (gulfnews.com)
- An 80,000‑employee training programme for federal workers accompanies the rollout. (gulfnews.com)
- The Federal Agentic AI Technology Platform (FedAI) and a National AI Gateway are being built to support the initiative. (gulfnews.com)
Sources
- [1] gulfnews.com — originally reported as “UAE Unveils AI Control Tower to Oversee Government Agents and Ensure Accountability”
