Alabbar calls for challenges to Big Tech's power, warns of new AI monopolies

Supplier power and negotiating leverage

Alabbar cited Microsoft and Oracle as examples of suppliers whose market dominance leaves business customers with little room to negotiate. Asked whether regional companies should confront established monopolies, he said: "I think we should challenge all of them."

He contrasted that dependence with the principles of competition promoted to businesses. "We all believe in this business of competition, freedom, all that," he said. "They sell us all these books, right? It's a joke."

Alabbar identified an exception in his dealings with Meta: "I negotiate with Meta, I don't negotiate with anybody else." Separately, Al Bayan reported that he uses the possibility of working with China's Alibaba as leverage in talks with Microsoft, which he said recognizes that option as serious. He also said he already uses Alibaba's AI technology as an alternative to US offerings.

His criticism follows remarks at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Leadership Forum at the Dubai World Trade Centre on September 24, 2025. According to Khaleej Times, he described the UAE as being in a "day and night" battle with US Big Tech and accused Meta, Google, Microsoft and Oracle of holding indefinite monopolies that "control the market around the globe and take their profits with them".

The 2026 Dubai Fintech Summit takes place November 2-3 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. Now in its fourth edition, it is organized by DIFC as the flagship event of Dubai Future Finance Week, under the patronage of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Testing AI's ability to replace existing systems

Within his own companies, Alabbar said teams are testing AI agents in individual departments. A supervisory agent could potentially coordinate those agents, allowing the technology eventually to handle work now performed through conventional enterprise software and corporate communication systems.

He suggested that agents might read information and distribute communications automatically. "Do we need emails anymore? I don't know," he said. He also predicted that AI-driven changes to business operations could leave traditional enterprise resource planning systems with as little as 12 months remaining.

The speed of development adds another challenge. According to Al Bayan, Alabbar said major advances in AI capabilities now happen within about two weeks, rather than the months or years they previously required. A company can report business growth while still falling behind those changes, he warned.

But moving away from established software suppliers would not, in his view, eliminate the risk of dependence. He warned that a small group of AI companies could gain control over technology on which the global economy increasingly relies.

Alabbar welcomed competition between American and Chinese AI providers and said he wanted stronger domestic options from both the UAE and Europe. "I hope that we'll get something out of the UAE," he said.

Noon's approach to competition

Alabbar presented noon, the Middle East e-commerce platform he helped build, as a practical example of challenging market concentration. He said supporting the region's digital economy was one reason for creating the company; another was preventing one player from controlling the e-commerce experience.

He linked noon's entry into food delivery to complaints from local restaurants about rival platforms charging commissions of around 35 percent. Noon introduced a 17.5 percent commission, which he said was intended to meet costs rather than maximize profit.

The move required spending on technology and logistics. Alabbar described taking on established providers as both a business opportunity and a responsibility to help other industries move beyond monopolistic practices. "You have to be honourable," he said.

At noon Food's announcement in February 2021, the company pledged to keep its commission rates unchanged for two years, according to Arab News. Restaurants could also qualify for a 12 percent commission during the first six months by lowering menu prices by 20 percent for that same period. Alabbar challenged competing delivery platforms to reduce their rates immediately to 15 percent.

He also claimed that noon's nine-minute food-delivery service was the first of its kind in the world, Khaleej Times reported.