Category: Talking Point

Dubai’s property market is grappling with a widening supply-demand gap, as the number of completed units lags behind the increasing volume of new project announcements. While developers continue to launch projects at an accelerated pace, experts warn that this could lead to a critical imbalance in the coming years. According to real estate agency Allsopp & Allsopp, a significant discrepancy is emerging between the number of new developments being announced and the actual completion of these units. The rapid expansion of

Business conditions across the United Arab Emirates’ non-oil private sector eased with the headline S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index slipping from 54.2 in September to 53.8 in October. Growth remained above the mid-year trend but the moderation highlights emerging caution amid new challenges. The decline in the PMI reflects a tempering of momentum, notably in hiring and new business orders. While the headline index still signals expansion, firms recorded a marked slowdown in workforce additions and a less vigorous

Beijing’s decision to eliminate a longstanding value-added tax offset for gold retailers marks a significant shift in policy, poised to raise domestic prices and influence global supply dynamics. From November 1 the Ministry of Finance announced that firms selling gold acquired from the Shanghai Gold Exchange or processed from it may no longer deduct VAT when disposing of the metal, whether in raw bars, coins or jewellery. The policy change spans investment-grade items such as high-purity bars and

European authorities’ push to regulate stablecoins under the Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation has brought order to a previously opaque market, but analysts warn it might also be sowing the seeds of a fresh risk for financial stability. The regulation mandates that issuers of e-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens must hold matching reserves, provide transparency on custody and investment of assets, and submit to governance and wind-down planning. These elements represent a significant step forward, yet major

A study led by scholars at Stanford University and Northeastern University has shed light on why large language models often produce narrow, repetitive outputs and offers a promising technique to restore creative breadth without retraining. The research identifies a hidden driver behind “mode collapse” in aligned LLMs and introduces a prompting approach known as Verbalized Sampling as a corrective measure. The phenomenon of mode collapse describes a situation where an LLM, post-alignment, tends to favour a small set of

The International Olympic Committee has announced it will no longer collaborate with Saudi Arabia to host the Olympic eSports Games. This move, described as a “mutual” decision, signifies the conclusion of the partnership between the two entities, which had initially planned to join forces in promoting digital sports at the Olympic level. In a statement issued on its official website, the IOC explained that both parties would now pursue their respective eSports ambitions independently. The decision marks a significant shift

A new wave of digital activity has shifted the balance of the internet as automated bots now account for over half of global web traffic. Cybersecurity data shows that traffic from non-human sources rose to 51 per cent in 2024, overtaking human‐generated traffic for the first time. Behind this shift lies a complex web of generative-AI, automated crawlers and malicious botnets, raising questions about the role of human engagement online and the future of the web. Analysis by cybersecurity firm Imperva

The manufacturing sector in the United Arab Emirates, accounting for 15 per cent of gross domestic product, is set to become the main engine of the country’s next economic phase, according to entrepreneur Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar Properties and Noon. com and chairman of Eagle Hills. Speaking at the eighth Sharjah Investment Forum–World Investment Conference 2025, he emphasised that while real estate contributes around 12 per cent of GDP, manufacturing has overtaken that figure and offers far greater growth

Gold continues its ascent worldwide as festival-driven demand collides with macroeconomic turbulence. Spot prices have broken past $4,300 an ounce, prompting Indian domestic rates to reach ₹1,31,699 per 10 grams and record premiums in key markets. HSBC, recalibrating its outlook, now forecasts average gold at $3,355 for 2025 and $3,950 for 2026, citing sustained safe-haven interest. Buyers in India are shifting patterns: instead of heavy gold jewellery, many are opting for coins, bars or lighter designs valued for liquidity. This trend

U. S. President Donald Trump declared that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to halt India’s purchases of Russian crude oil, a shift that would significantly upend global energy flows if implemented. Trump told reporters that Modi made the commitment during their conversation, stating that phasing out Russian imports would not happen overnight but would take place “within a short period of time.” The Indian embassy in Washington has not confirmed the claim. The announcement comes amid mounting pressure from the

Al Mal Capital REIT has sealed its first move into the healthcare sector by acquiring the real estate asset housing NMC Royal Hospital in Dubai Investments Park. The transaction lifts AMCREIT’s portfolio valuation to around AED 1.4 billion across six assets. The facility spans 492,332 square feet and comprises two hospital blocks alongside a fully leased commercial wing. The hospital, which supports nearly 120 inpatient beds, outpatient services, emergency response and a pharmacy, will continue operations under a long-term

Dubai’s 45th edition of GITEX GLOBAL opened on 13 October at the Dubai World Trade Centre, attracting what organisers call unprecedented global participation. The event hosts more than 6,800 exhibitors, 2,000 startups and 1,200 investors from over 180 countries. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum inaugurated the event, underscoring the UAE’s ambition to lead in AI-driven economies. Dubai’s leadership has signalled this edition will be the last at the DWTC venue, with plans in motion to relocate GITEX to Expo City

Dubai has recorded a landmark quarter in its upper-tier residential sector, with 103 homes sold for over US$ 10 million in Q3, representing a 24 % rise compared with Q3 of 2024. Demand in the ultra-luxury segment translated into 17 sales above US$ 25 million — more than double the tally from the same period last year. By the end of September, the cumulative number of US$ 10 million+ transactions stood at 357 for the first nine months, up 26 %

Large language models powered by artificial intelligence are now matching or even exceeding human-level empathic accuracy based solely on text, according to a new study that pits cutting-edge systems like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini against human participants. The study challenged models to infer emotional states from transcripts of deeply personal and emotionally complex narratives. Human participants were split: some read the same transcripts; others watched the original videos. Models had only the semantic content to work with. Remarkably, the AI systems

Deloitte Australia will reimburse part of the A$440,000 it earned from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations after a commissioned report was found to contain fabricated quotes from a federal court judgment and references to non-existent academic papers. The 237-page document, published in July, initially underwent limited public scrutiny. A revised version released in October removed misattributed quotations and corrected erroneous citations after Sydney University researcher Chris Rudge raised concerns about extensive “fabricated references.” The department acknowledged Deloitte had confirmed “some

Deloitte Australia has agreed to partially refund AU$440,000 to the federal government after a commissioned report attributed to it was found to include fabricated citations, invented legal quotations, and other inaccuracies. The firm disclosed that the report’s drafting had involved the use of a generative AI system, prompting sharp debate over how much control and transparency clients should demand when consultants deploy such tools in high-stakes settings. The 237-page independent assurance review, commissioned by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Wikipedia’s position as a trusted repository of knowledge is under intense pressure from the accelerating adoption of generative artificial intelligence, which poses multidimensional threats to its editorial integrity, infrastructure, and community model. Volunteer editors report surging volumes of AI-generated drafts, forcing a defensive stance rarely seen in its history. At the heart of the challenge lies the phenomenon often dubbed “AI slop” — text that superficially mimics encyclopaedic tone but is riddled with factual errors, misattributions or invented data. Volunteer editors

Wizz Air Hungary is reopening bookings for flights from Abu Dhabi to several European destinations, with services beginning in October and November 2025. Flight schedules show routes from Katowice and Krakow in Poland launching on 10 October. The carrier plans to resume Larnaca services from 15 November, operating four times weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and Sofia flights from 17 November on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The revival comes just weeks after Wizz Air shut down its UAE-based joint venture,

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has enlisted a consortium of international and regional banks to host a series of fixed income investor calls beginning 6 October 2025, with the aim of gauging demand for a potential benchmark 5-year senior unsecured US dollar sukuk issuance. The mandate positions Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Goldman Sachs International and HSBC as active bookrunners, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ajman Bank, Bank ABC, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Dubai Islamic Bank, Fifth Third Securities,

More than 640,000 companies have registered under the UAE’s corporate tax scheme as the Federal Tax Authority reported strong uptake in tax returns and payments. The filings cover entities whose financial year ended 31 December 2024, and the FTA credited its digital infrastructure and awareness efforts for high compliance rates. Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director-General of the FTA, announced that “hundreds of thousands” of corporate tax returns and annual declarations have already been processed via EmaraTax. He described the outcome

Saudi Arabia has announced that half of all jobs in licensed tourism establishments must be staffed by Saudi nationals by 2028, signalling a significant policy shift to move citizens into non-oil sectors. The Ministry of Tourism says the measure will tackle the overreliance on expatriate labour and realign the workforce with Vision 2030 economic diversification goals. Under the new framework, the Saudisation ratio will rise gradually: 40 per cent by April 2026, 45 per cent by January 2027, and 50 per

Global investment firm KKR has acquired a minority stake in ADNOC Gas Pipeline Assets LLC, reinforcing its commitment to Middle East energy infrastructure. ADNOC retains full operational control and ownership of the pipelines. KKR’s move builds on longstanding ties with Abu Dhabi’s national energy group. In 2019, KKR and BlackRock acquired a portion of ADNOC’s oil pipeline business in a landmark deal; that investment was later sold to Abu Dhabi’s Lunate fund. KKR’s repeat foray into ADNOC’s gas infrastructure marks a

The Middle East and North Africa are experiencing a wave of sovereign bond issuance as governments tap global debt markets to meet financing needs, even though oil prices have held in the mid-$60s per barrel and credit spreads remain compressed. Kuwait re-entered the international capital markets after an eight-year hiatus, successfully issuing $11.25 billion in three, five and ten-year bonds at spreads of 0.40 to 0.50 percentage points over US Treasuries. The offering drew order books exceeding $28 billion and allocated

OpenAI has surged past its prior valuation to reach an estimated $500 billion after current and former employees sold approximately $6.6 billion worth of shares to a consortium of investors. The deal, structured as a secondary share transaction, elevates OpenAI to the top of private tech valuations globally. Buyers in the transaction include Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price. Although OpenAI had authorised up to $10 billion of share sales for insiders, not all