In a historic move toward the future of urban living, Abu Dhabi is set to become the world’s first city built entirely around artificial intelligence. The ambitious project, called Aion Sentia, will combine cutting-edge AI infrastructure with human-centric design to create a city that can learn, adapt, and evolve with its residents.
🚀 Scheduled Launch: 2027
🏗️ Developed By: Bold Technologies (Bold Holding) & My Aion Inc. (Italy)
💰 Investment: $2.5 Billion under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model
🌐 Beyond Smart Cities: Welcome to the Cognitive Urban Ecosystem
Unlike traditional smart cities that rely on fixed automation systems and siloed data networks, Aion Sentia will function as a cognitive ecosystem. This means the city will learn from residents’ behaviors and preferences in real time, continuously optimizing services and infrastructure to meet their evolving needs.
At the heart of the ecosystem is MAIA, a proprietary AI platform that acts as the city’s brain and personal assistant for every resident.
🤖 MAIA: Your AI Assistant for Urban Life
MAIA isn’t your average chatbot or voice assistant. It’s an intelligent urban operating system that connects:
- 🏠 Smart homes
- 🚑 AI-powered healthcare services
- 🚗 Intelligent transport systems
- 🔌 Personalized energy management
- 🍽️ Lifestyle and entertainment recommendations
MAIA is built on a graph-based personal profile model — meaning it understands user history, relationships, and behavior contextually. Whether it’s booking a dinner tailored to your tastes or offering energy-saving tips based on your usage patterns, MAIA streamlines urban life into a single app experience.
“This is not just a smart city — it’s a thinking city.” – Daniele Marinelli, CEO of My Aion Inc.
💸 Massive Investment, Global Vision
With a $2.5 billion investment, Aion Sentia is not only the region’s most ambitious AI project — it also sets the foundation for global replication. Plans are already underway to export this AI-first urban model to major cities in Europe, the U.S., and beyond.
📍 Why Abu Dhabi?
The city was selected due to its:
- Forward-thinking regulatory environment
- Advanced digital infrastructure
- Government support for innovation
“Abu Dhabi is uniquely positioned to launch this initiative,” added Marinelli.
🎓 Empowering the Next Generation of AI Talent
To ensure sustainable innovation, Bold Technologies and My Aion Inc. are also launching AI training and upskilling programs in partnership with UAE universities. These programs aim to equip Emirati professionals with skills to lead AI research, development, and deployment.
“This sets a global benchmark in AI urbanization and opens new doors for UAE nationals,” said Thani Al Thani Al Falasi, CEO of Bold Technologies.
