GITEX, NorthStar draw techies to Dubai from around the world

By midday it was standing-room-only as one of the world’s biggest tech and AI gatherings kicked off.

Cramming into the exhibition halls at Dubai World Trade Center on Monday were exuberant crowds trying to get a glance of the future: from fully autonomous AI-powered cars to a pink feather-boa clad humanoid robot rubbing shoulders with its warm-blooded compatriots.

GITEX Global 2025, now in its 45th edition, and sister event Expand NorthStar, a startup and investor event running in parallel at Dubai Harbor, brought the city to a standstill early on Monday morning, prompting the police issue a notice to motorists to avoid the area if possible.

The five-day event, which has drawn more than 6,800 companies from 180 countries, is growing so big that it will be moved next year to Expo City Dubai, the futuristic site developed for Expo 2020 Dubai, which has now been transformed into a permanent city and free zone. It will also be shuffled forward into December to coincide with the cooler tourist season. 

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid, along with his son, Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan, were seen touring exhibits with a large entourage in tow on Monday morning.

Among the major companies participating are Abu Dhabi AI powerhouse G42, Google, Microsoft, Huawei, AMD, Cerebras, Qualcomm, and Tenstorrent.

Hassan Aljohani, the Vice President for Business Development at Saudi Arabia’s Neo Space Group, came to the event to show off the company’s near real-time geospatial intelligence and a sovereign mapping platform to the wider region.

“We see GITEX as the ultimate platform to showcase and establish familiarity, connections and partnerships with the like-minded innovative institutions,” Aljohani said.