AI to be embedded into DIFC law, regulation and infrastructure

Marie Chowdhry and Martin Hayward of Pinsent Masons in the UAE were commenting after the DIFC Authority announced its intention to become “the world’s first AI native financial centre”.

Arif Amiri, DIFC Authority chief executive officer, said the initiative “is about embedding AI across our legal frameworks, regulatory systems, talent development and physical infrastructure” and the move will allow the DIFC to “set a global benchmark for AI governance and responsible innovation”.

In regulatory terms, businesses can expect new ethics and governance frameworks to address AI use, including AI agents and robotics, according to the DIFC Authority. It has further promised to “integrate physical AI, including robotics, autonomous mobility and digital twins, with financial laws and regulation”. These new frameworks will build upon the existing regulatory structure, put in place by the DIFC Authority in 2023, to manage increased AI adoption with the issuance of the DIFC Data Protection Law’s Regulation 10 covering the processing of personal data through autonomous and semi-autonomous systems. This has since been supplemented with a robust accreditation and certification framework.

The DIFC Authority said: “Across business operations, AI will be embedded into enterprise workflows, compliance systems and financial services delivery, creating intelligent, automated and trusted financial ecosystems.”

The authority also said financial firms in the DIFC will have “access to advanced AI tools to support their operations” and be able to “export AI governance software and trained talent to the Global South”. It estimated that the project would deliver AED 12.9 billion (US $3.5bn) in economic benefits and 25,000 new jobs.

Chowdhry said: “What the DIFC is attempting goes beyond accommodating AI as a new technology risk. In my view, it is about designing a financial ecosystem in which AI is assumed to be part of how markets operate, firms make decisions and regulators supervise activity. That creates space for more sophisticated innovation, but it also requires firms to think much earlier and more rigorously about governance, accountability and resilience.

The DIFC’s renewed commitment in this area would create new “opportunities for innovation, efficiency and scalable deployment of AI‑enabled financial services within a regulated environment,” said Hayward, a technology and media expert at Pinsent Masons. “Organisations should start engaging early with these developments to ensure their AI strategies align with emerging regulatory and supervisory standards,” he added.

The announcement comes as a report by the World Alliance of International Financial Centres (WAIFC) (24-pages / 5.5MB PDF) points to the growing role of international financial centres as facilitators of responsible AI adoption.

The report surveyed 12 international financial centres across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia – including the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and the DIFC – and found that all of them were already integrating and adopting AI, particularly generative AI tools, through a coordinated mix of national AI strategies, regulatory guidance and supervised testing environments, including regulatory sandboxes for AI‑driven financial services.

The report noted that AI deployment across international financial centres was particularly concentrated in compliance‑critical functions such as anti-money laundering, know‑your‑customer screening, fraud detection, risk management, and operational automation.

At the same time, governance frameworks across international financial centres were found to be at different stages of maturity, with risks such as algorithmic bias, model opacity and data privacy concerns reinforcing the importance of strong oversight and accountability mechanisms.

Chowdhry said these findings highlighted the growing importance of international financial centres like the DIFC in aligning AI deployment with “global best practice” while remaining sensitive to local regulatory expectations. “Investment in talent, internal controls, and regulatory engagement will be critical to unlocking AI’s full potential while maintaining trust and compliance,” she added.