The United Arab Emirates and Lebanon have launched the One Million Lebanese AI Experts initiative, a bilateral programme intended to build practical generative artificial intelligence and prompt-engineering skills across Lebanese society. The announcement was made on 25 September 2026 during a meeting between UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in New York.
The programme sits within the UAE’s Government Experience Exchange Programme, which shares public-sector expertise with partner governments. According to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the initiative is designed to help participants use AI tools in work and everyday life, improve productivity and develop solutions to practical problems.
Its stated target is unusually broad: one million Lebanese people across different ages, backgrounds and professional roles. The focus is on foundational and practical skills, including how to formulate instructions and guide generative AI systems toward useful and accurate outputs. That makes the initiative a workforce and public-capability programme rather than a specialist engineering fellowship.
The announcement also reflects the UAE’s use of AI skills diplomacy as part of its international cooperation agenda. Instead of limiting technology partnerships to infrastructure, procurement or government platforms, the programme extends the relationship into population-level readiness and institutional capability.
The scale creates a demanding implementation question. A population-wide programme needs accessible delivery channels, Arabic-language learning material, clear definitions of completion and support for people with very different levels of digital experience. It will also need to distinguish between basic tool literacy and the more advanced skills required to evaluate outputs, protect sensitive information and use AI responsibly in professional settings.
The important test will be delivery evidence. Future reporting should establish the curriculum, delivery partners, completion rates, assessment method and how many participants apply the skills in public services, education or private-sector work. The launch confirms the bilateral ambition; it does not yet establish how many people have been trained or what measurable outcomes have been achieved.
