Abu Dhabi is turning its rules into a format AI can read. Applications will need to hold up

14 November 2026

The Abu Dhabi Government is working with OpenAI to turn a set of its policies and regulations into a machine-readable format, so that AI can help officials assess permit and certificate applications. The first pilot is already running for food imports.

What happened

On 2 November, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed met OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and witnessed four agreements between Abu Dhabi entities and OpenAI, involving ADNOC, Mubadala, G42's subsidiary Inception42 and the Abu Dhabi Government. No financial terms were reported. (Khaleej Times, The National)
The government initiative is called "Machine-Readable Government". A defined set of policies and regulations will be converted into machine-readable formats, and AI will help officials assess permit and certificate applications. Each assessment will be traceable to the relevant regulation, and officials keep responsibility for the final decision. (Same sources)
The first pilot, with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority on food imports, is already in production. (Same sources)
It runs on OpenAI's GPT models using inference infrastructure based in the UAE. (Same sources)
Abu Dhabi also launched a training programme with OpenAI and Microsoft for 20,000 government employees and the wider public. (The National)

These facts come from two UAE news outlets that agree with each other. We could not read the original text on WAM or OpenAI's own pages.

What it means for businesses in the Middle East

My view: for businesses, the change is not the AI itself but the way applications are checked. When a person reviews a file, a small mismatch might be sorted out with a phone call. When every item is checked against a rule, an inconsistent document or a standard that does not match gets flagged at once, along with the exact rule it fails.

The benefit is real too. Complete, clearly written applications should move faster, and a rejection tells you exactly what to fix. Today this covers only food imports. But once turning rules into a machine-readable format works, other permits are likely to follow.

One thing to do next week

If you import food, take your last three applications and check them line by line against the requirements published by the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, looking for anything that contradicts itself. If you do not, list the permits and certificates your company renews each year and mark which documents are most often sent back. Those are likely to be checked this way next.

Sources

Khaleej Times, 2 November 2026: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince meets OpenAI's Sam Altman; 4 deals signed
The National, 2 November 2026: Abu Dhabi agrees OpenAI deals to boost government services and education