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ARC — Dubai AI + Entrepreneurship Forum
AboutThe forumThe connectionsWhat’s ahead
About ↗Apply to ARCApply↗
AboutThe forumThe connectionsWhat’s ahead
Dubai AI + Entrepreneurship Forum25.2048° N / 55.2708° E
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ARC / DUBAI ENTRY

WE’RE LOOKING FOR DUBAI’S MOST AMBITIOUS STUDENTS.

ARC is building a selective network for young people already building, researching, creating or operating beyond the classroom.

ENTER ARC↗Scroll to discover↓ARC / DUBAI / 2026
01 / A different starting pointDUBAI, UAE

Do something
impressive.

REAL IDEAS.
REAL PROJECTS.ARC / 001
DUBAI, UAE

Curiosity is a good start.
See where it can take you.

ARC is the Dubai AI + Entrepreneurship Forum. We’re bringing together ambitious young people interested in AI, business and what they could create next.

You don’t need a company. You don’t need to code. You need an interest in doing something beyond the expected.

Get to know ARC ↗
AI. BUSINESS. PEOPLE. WHAT’S NEXT. AI. BUSINESS. PEOPLE.
02 / Unexpected connectionsA LITTLE LESS LEFT TO CHANCE
Two people and a bicycle share a view over Dubai in an original monochrome conceptual photograph.Surreal photographic slices of sky, sea, Dubai Creek and desert suspended above one another.A handmade photographic collage of prototype-making, Dubai infrastructure and Gulf water.
01/ 03
DIFFERENT PEOPLE. SAME DIRECTION.
+

Serendipity.

[noun] Finding something valuable
where you weren’t looking for it.

People you probably should have met already.

Different schools. Different starting points. A shared curiosity about what comes next.

A conversation can change the direction.

AI, business, entrepreneurship. Bring an idea, a question, or something you have already started.

Find a reason to do something with it.

A new perspective. A potential collaborator. A first step towards something worth making.

Different people. Same direction.

03 / A city of possibilityA DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
DUBAI
ARC / STUDY 0325°11′N / 55°16′E
A silver architectural model of the Burj Khalifa, suspended above a soft shadow.
BURJ KHALIFADUBAI / UAE
Model: ManySince910 · CC BY 4.0 ↗

Same city.
Bigger ideas.

A different combination of people can change what you see. We’re starting here, with the curiosity and ambition already around us.

Find your people ↗
04 / What’s aheadTHE FORUM IS TAKING SHAPE

Big questions.
Real possibilities.

Technology changes what’s possible.
People decide what to do with it.
Here’s where ARC is headed.

ARC / FIELD NOTES01 — 04
Photographic landscape slices of Dubai Creek, sea, sky and desert floating in a silver sculpture.
001
IDEAS.EXPERIMENTS.POSSIBILITIES.A DIFFERENT COMBINATION.
Conceptual campaign photograph of collaborators and one luminous figure around a worktable.
002
NOT ANOTHERGROUP CHAT.MAKE SOMETHING TOGETHER.
Torn photographic cuttings of making a prototype and Dubai's architecture.
003
BUILDSOMETHINGREAL.THE VENTURE CHALLENGE / IN DEVELOPMENT
Conceptual overhead photograph of people crossing paths on a stone plaza.
004
WHAT’SNEXT?CONVERSATIONS. PEOPLE. POSSIBILITIES.
Our focus

Make something useful.

How new technology becomes something useful. ARC brings an interest in AI together with the questions behind a business: who it helps, why it matters, and how to make it work.

Our approach

Find your collaborators.

Ambitious students are spread across schools and different circles. ARC is building connections between them, so a shared interest can turn into a conversation or a collaboration.

In development

An idea worth building.

A planned competition around AI and entrepreneurship. The format is being developed; dates, venue, judges and registration have not been announced.

What’s next

The next conversation.

Founder conversations, startup opportunities and events are part of ARC’s direction. Specific opportunities will be shared when confirmed. Applying does not guarantee an invitation.

Put yourself on the radar ↗
ARC / Studies in makingResearch. Tools. Possibility.
Ideas
in motion.Still
Apple / Product design

Steve
Jobs

WWDC / 2010

Tesla + SpaceX / Engineering

Elon
Musk

Royal Society / 2018

Facebook / Social software

Mark
Zuckerberg

Palo Alto / 2006

OpenAI / Artificial intelligence

Sam
Altman

TechCrunch Disrupt / 2019

Palantir / Applied software

Alex
Karp

WIRED / 2025

Personal computing

Steve
Wozniak

Wozniak (left) + Andy Hertzfeld / Wellington, 1985

Amazon / Systems + infrastructure

Jeff
Bezos

Los Angeles / 2017

NVIDIA / Computing hardware

Jensen
Huang

Santa Clara / 2024

01 / 08
ARC — REFERENCE REEL 001

Apple co-founder. Personal computers, interfaces and the relationship between hardware and software.

Electric vehicles and reusable rockets. Software meeting physical engineering at scale.

Facebook co-founder, photographed in its early Palo Alto office. A student project becoming a platform.

OpenAI co-founder. Turning advances in AI research into tools people can use and build with.

Palantir co-founder. Software that connects complex data with decisions in the real world.

Designer of the Apple I and II, here at a computer users’ club. Making things, then sharing how they work.

Amazon founder. Building the infrastructure behind online commerce and cloud computing.

NVIDIA co-founder. The computing tools behind games, simulations and modern AI.

Hover to hold. Select a frame to explore.

About this reel + image credits

An editorial selection of people whose work connects research, technology and making. Featured as references, with no ARC affiliation or endorsement implied.

  • Steve Jobs — Matthew Yohe. CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and editorial crops. This photo adaptation remains under CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Elon Musk — Debbie Rowe / The Royal Society. CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and editorial crops. This photo adaptation remains under CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Mark Zuckerberg — Elena Dorfman / Redux, via WIRED. © Elena Dorfman / Redux. Resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and editorial crops.
  • Sam Altman — Steve Jennings / Getty Images for TechCrunch. CC BY 2.0. Resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and editorial crops.
  • Alex Karp — Sarah Karlan / WIRED. © WIRED / Condé Nast. Resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and editorial crops.
  • Steve Wozniak — Tony Wills. CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and crops. This photo adaptation remains under CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Jeff Bezos — Van Ha / U.S. Air Force. Public domain (U.S. federal government work). Resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and editorial crops.
  • Jensen Huang — Peter Dasilva / © European Union, 2026. CC BY 4.0. Existing crop resized to WebP; displayed with monochrome grading and editorial crops.

Photographs are presented in monochrome with editorial crops. Select a frame for a still view; the navigation’s motion setting and your device’s reduced-motion preference apply to the reel.

05 / Your move

What happens next
starts with you.

01A little curiosity02Your perspective03On the radar

A short puzzle. A few questions.
A way for ARC to know you exist.

Apply to ARC ↗

For ambitious students in Dubai and the UAE.
An application is not membership or a guaranteed invitation.

A few things to know

Before you begin.

Do I need technical experience?+

No. ARC is for people interested in AI, entrepreneurship and business, including those exploring these subjects for the first time.

What does applying mean?+

Your application puts you on the ARC radar. ARC reviews submissions and may contact you about relevant opportunities. It does not guarantee membership or an invitation.

Can schools and organisations get involved?+

We welcome conversations with educators and organisations interested in ARC’s direction. Reach ARC through our official LinkedIn page ↗.

ARC — Dubai AI + Entrepreneurship Forum
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Dubai / 2026