Dubai: Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) has unveiled details of The Challenge, one of the main concepts at Dubai Future Week, which will take place from November 18 to 21, 2026, across Emirates Towers and the Museum of the Future.
Held under the theme ‘For the Human of the Future’, Dubai Future Week will bring together more than 10,000 participants and experts from future-focused sectors.
The Challenge will bring together leading global talent in artificial intelligence, robotics and emerging technologies through interactive competitions designed to test technical skills, creativity and ideas while exploring the potential and applications of future technologies.
The platform aims to highlight the importance of talent in shaping the future by providing a practical environment to test capabilities and ideas and turn knowledge of emerging technologies into tangible applications and experiences.
AI, robotics, biotechnology and advanced computing are among the technologies being explored, with a focus on how they can be used to solve problems, expand opportunities, improve lives and build more future-ready societies.
AED1 million AI prize
The Challenge will feature the AI Grandmaster competition, returning for its third year following the Global Prompt Engineering Championship 2025, which attracted more than 3,800 applications from 125 countries.
Finalists will compete during Dubai Future Week, demonstrating their skills across generative AI applications by crafting clear and precise prompts to produce distinctive content within a limited time.
The competition will culminate in a final showdown, with one winner receiving a grand prize of AED1 million.
The Challenge will also host the finals of the fourth Emirates Robotics Competition, organised by Dubai Future Labs, part of Dubai Future Foundation, in partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Mohammed bin Rashid Library and the American University of Sharjah.
Participating teams will be challenged to imagine, design and develop robotic solutions and prototypes capable of performing tasks that support the library sector. The competition will bring together university teams from national and international universities across the UAE.
Five tracks, eight main concepts
The Challenge forms part of How We'll Innovate, one of Dubai Future Week's five tracks. It explores robotics, algorithms and machines alongside AI applications and innovations in quantum computing, synthetic biology, materials science and space, as well as research, development and automation.
Dubai Future Week will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, conversations, challenges and competitions, exhibitions, future-focused experiences, closed-door meetings and other activities across the city.
The programme will unfold across eight main concepts: The Big Stage, The Prototype Floor, The Pitch, The Policy Room, The Challenge, Offstage, 500 Future Minds and The District.