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Life is returning to normal and optimism is spreading for a peace deal at the campus of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi, the university’s president, Eric Xing, said Friday at Semafor World Economy in Washington, DC.
The MBZUAI president said that while there have been no direct hits nearby, some students opted to leave for a few weeks as the Iran war started to impact countries across the Middle East, before eventually returning to campus.
“Psychologically, there is an impact because people are anxious about the uncertainty when the war is going to be over, and [whether] the economy is going to be hurt,” Xing said. “But in terms of daily life, your work, you don’t actually need to change too much.”
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The UAE government grants full scholarships to all students at MBZUAI and retains ownership of intellectual property developed on campus. The college, which offers degrees in AI fields like computer vision and machine learning, also offers an internship program that has been a magnet for US students.
Xing said 80% of MBZUAI’s graduates have chosen to remain in the UAE, reflecting the country’s investments in quality-of-life and to retain global talent.
“Not only are they paid very well, a job over there is more predictable, sustainable and also reliable,” said Xing, who also collaborates with the UAE-based AI firm G24. “We don’t see the kind of Bay Area very dramatic shift of interest and attention.”