Understand AI first, then regulate, urges UAE AI minister Omar Sultan al Olama

Understand AI first, then regulate - UAE tech minister | Global Stage

The human race is facing three big impending challenges: artificial intelligence, climate change, and pandemics, says the UAE's Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Omar Sultan al Olama.

Speaking in a GZERO Global Stage discussion from the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Minister al Olama said he finds himself at the center of a technology crossing borders. He reminds us that AI can't be regulated by each country in silos. International collaboration is key,but before that, government officials need to get educated on AI. “There are, unfortunately certain players that are approaching this with ignorance,” he says.

The conversation was part of the Global Stage series, produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft. These discussions convene heads of state, business leaders, and technology experts from around the world for critical debate about the geopolitical and technology trends shaping our world.

Watch the full conversation here: How is the world tackling AI, Davos' hottest topic?

More from GZERO Media

- YouTube

As the world faces rising food demand, social entrepreneur Nidhi Pant is tackling the challenge of food waste while empowering women farmers. Speaking with GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis on the sidelines of the 2025 World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings, Pant explains how her organization, Science for Society Technologies (S4S), is helping smallholder farmers process and preserve their produce reducing massive post-harvest losses.

French police officers seal off the entrance to the Louvre Museum after a robbery in Paris, France, on October 19, 2025. Robbers break into the Louvre and flee with jewelry on the morning of October 19, 2025, a source close to the case says, adding that its value is still being evaluated. A police source says an unknown number of thieves arrive on a scooter armed with small chainsaws and use a goods lift to reach the room they are targeting.
Photo by Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto
Centrist senator and presidential candidate Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), speaks onstage as he celebrates following preliminary results on the day of the presidential runoff election, in La Paz, Bolivia, on October 19, 2025.
REUTERS/Claudia Morales

After two decades of left-wing dominance in Bolivia, the Latin American country elected a centrist president on Sunday. It isn’t the only country in the region that’s tilting to the right.

- YouTube

Artificial intelligence is transforming the global workforce, but its impact looks different across economies. Christine Qiang, Global Director in the World Bank’s Digital Vice Presidency, tells GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis that while “every single job will be reshaped,” developing countries are seeing faster growth in demand for AI skills than high-income nations.

People attend a vigil in memory of Mauricio Ruiz, a 32-year-old man who was killed during Wednesday's protest against Peru's President Jose Jeri, days after Jeri took office, in Lima, Peru, on October 16, 2025.
REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda

The Peruvian government is declaring a state of emergency in Lima after the protests, which haven’t stopped, turned deadly – police shot and killed a 32-year-old man on Wednesday at demonstrations outside the Congress.