Game-Changer for Global Finance? UAE Unveils World’s First AI-Powered Sovereign Cloud to Guard Banks and Data

In a bold leap that could redefine how modern financial systems operate, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has announced the launch of what it calls the world’s first sovereign financial cloud services infrastructure, a secure and AI-powered digital backbone designed specifically for the nation’s financial sector. This initiative, developed in partnership with Core42 (a subsidiary of AI and technology group G42), aims to position the UAE at the forefront of secure, sovereign digital finance and bolster its reputation as a global hub for innovative financial services.The platform, known as the Sovereign Financial Cloud Services Infrastructure (SFCSI), is set apart from traditional cloud environments by its focus on data sovereignty, integrated cybersecurity and unified multi-cloud management, all underpinned by advanced artificial intelligence and real-time analytics. In practical terms, this means the UAE’s financial sector will be able to process, analyse and automate critical banking functions with unprecedented speed and regulatory control, securely within national borders.

What makes the UAE’s sovereign financial cloud revolutionary

Unlike most cloud services, which are operated by global providers and often host data far from the jurisdictions that regulate them, the SFCSI is built on a fully isolated and centralised infrastructure that ensures critical financial data remains within the UAE’s legal and security perimeter. Governments and regulators see this as key not just for privacy but for economic and strategic sovereignty in a world where data and finance increasingly intersect.This approach mirrors broader global trends toward digital sovereignty, where countries aim to protect sensitive infrastructure from foreign interference, whether from geopolitical tensions or shifting international data laws. By embedding regulatory controls and governance tools directly into the cloud platform itself, the CBUAE is seeking to reduce reliance on foreign systems and strengthen confidence in the nation’s financial resilience.Core42’s involvement is not just as a technical builder; the partnership brings integrated artificial intelligence and advanced analytics directly into the financial backbone. This allows licensed financial institutions and the CBUAE to automate operational processes intelligently, analyse real-time data for risk and performance insights, improve decision-making with predictive models and enhance customer service through automated, data-driven workflows.In a world where financial services are rapidly becoming more complex and interconnected, AI integration at the infrastructure level offers both competitive edge and stronger defences against threats like fraud, system failure or cyber-attacks. The new system also provides a single management framework for multiple cloud services, giving licensed financial institutions the flexibility to administer a range of cloud environments, including private and hybrid setups, seamlessly and securely. This capability is particularly valuable for institutions that need to balance agility and innovation with strict regulatory compliance.

Implications for the UAE and global financial landscape

For the UAE’s banks, insurers and fintech startups, the SFCSI represents a foundational piece of digital transformation. Regulatory oversight will be more immediate and nuanced, while institutions can scale new digital products, from personalised banking apps to smart payment systems, without compromising on security or compliance.Officials from the CBUAE emphasised that the platform will serve the entire licensed financial sector, reinforcing not just operational resilience but also long-term sustainable growth as financial services evolve. The central bank’s leadership views this as a pivotal step in strengthening the nation’s competitiveness on the world stage.The UAE’s move toward a sovereign financial cloud resonates with a broader global push for digital control over critical infrastructure. Various countries are debating how to balance openness to global technology with the need to protect sensitive financial and governmental data, a tension that’s only grown more pronounced as cyber threats increase and geopolitical competition around tech intensifies. By being among the first to embed sovereign control, AI capabilities and cloud innovation at this scale, the UAE is signalling that it intends to lead in secure, regulated digital finance, not just participate in it.While this cloud platform is targeted at the financial sector, its development aligns with the UAE’s wider strategy of integrating AI and digital infrastructure across governance, public services and enterprise systems. The inclusion of AI, real-time analytics and automation at a national infrastructure level could help catalyse further technological development in related fields such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), national payments innovation and cross-border financial integration.

What UAE’s sovereign financial cloud platform means for everyday users and institutions

For banks and financial firms, the SFCSI offers a more efficient way to innovate and comply with regulations, potentially making services faster, more secure and easier to tailor to customer needs. For consumers and businesses, the shift could translate into:

The rollout of such an infrastructure may also attract international finance players, tech investors and startups looking to base operations in a secure, innovation-friendly jurisdiction. The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has unveiled what it calls the world’s first sovereign financial cloud services infrastructure, developed with technology partner Core42.The Sovereign Financial Cloud Services Infrastructure (SFCSI) is designed to ensure data sovereignty, robust cybersecurity, AI integration, and unified multi-cloud management for the UAE’s financial sector. Built with advanced AI and analytics, it will enhance automation, real-time decision-making and innovation within licensed financial institutions. The move reinforces the UAE’s ambitions to be a global leader in secure, digital finance, aligning with broader global trends toward sovereign digital infrastructure.

India was closely monitoring the situation as Afghanistan and Pakistan seemed poised for a dangerous escalation, with Islamabad declaring that the two countries were in an “open war” following Pakistan’s airstrikes on “terrorist hideouts” in Afghanistan and the latter’s retaliatory action. The relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan has unravelled dramatically in the past few years. Pakistan has blamed Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) or Pakistan Taliban for terrorist attacks on its soil and on several occasions launched targeted strikes against TTP. According to Islamabad, Baloch insurgents also find sanctuary in Afghanistan. Kabul has mostly responded with what it calls necessary and measured military action.On this occasion though, Pakistan has directly targeted not just the terrorist infrastructure but also Afghanistan military facilities in Kabul and other cities.

India’s own ties with the Taliban have seen a stunning turnaround during this period, initially on the back of its large-scale humanitarian aid to Kabul and now the commitment to fulfil the development needs of the Afghan people, circumventing the lack of international recognition for the regime. India’s response so far to the Pakistan-Afghanistan crisis has been a manifestation of this new reality that Islamabad must contend with. India has continued to maintain that Pakistan’s cross-border adventurism resulting in civilian casualties is nothing but a ploy to deflect attention from its domestic failures. India also strongly backs Afghanistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The Taliban reciprocated to these gestures as they endorsed, much to Pakistan’s chagrin, a mention of J&K as a part of India in a joint statement issued after Afghanistan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to India last year in Oct.However, while an antagonistic relationship between the two countries allays fears about Pakistan’s longstanding policy of using Afghanistan for strategic depth, a major military escalation that would imperil regional stability is more than what India would bargain for. In fact, it would come at the least opportune time for India as New Delhi, after a period of relative peace, looks to resume development work in the country.Importantly, India is considering an offer from the Taliban to invest in the mining sector, something which China is already actively pursuing. India is also looking to work with Afghanistan on hydroelectric projects. For India, this is the time to reap the benefits of a strong working relationship it has built with the Taliban and a regional war, or its possible spillover effects like a humanitarian or refugee crisis, will likely stymie India’s nascent but expanding footprint in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

BENGALURU: Eleven people were arrested for allegedly abducting a film director, brutally assaulting him and robbing him of gold ornaments and cash in a case linked to financial dispute over an under-production Kannada film.The complainant, Anish TA, 31, a native of Tamil Nadu residing in Mumbai, had directed Kannada film Jeevanada Bashe, post-production work of which is pending.

The arrested accused are Ashirwad, Sujan, Sanjay, Lakshmi Narayan, Shahid, Aishwarya, Rehan, Arif, Dhruva, Charan and Aslan. According to police, Lakshmi Narayan invested Rs 5-6 lakh in the film. Ashirwad worked as Anish’s assistant, while Aishwarya acted in the film. Before completing post-production, Anish shifted from Bengaluru to Mumbai, reportedly leaving investors disappointed. Police said Narayan was upset over Anish’s move to shift. At the same time, Anish and Ashirwad were embroiled in a financial dispute of Rs 2.5 lakh, which Ashirwad had allegedly borrowed from him. When Anish demanded repayment, Ashirwad allegedly threatened him and refused to return the money. A few months ago, Anish filed a police complaint and issued a legal notice to Ashirwad. Earlier this month, Anish told Aishwarya he wanted to sell his SUV. She allegedly informed Ashirwad, who asked her to tell Anish that a friend was interested in purchasing the vehicle. Anish then drove from Mumbai to Bengaluru in the SUV. He met Aishwarya and her friend Shahid at a coffee outlet in Indiranagar. Later, on the pretext of inspecting the vehicle, he was taken by Shahid’s friend to a garage. From there, Anish was allegedly taken to a house in Byadarahalli. Police said 5-6 persons, including Ashirwad, assaulted him with cricket stumps and hockey sticks and robbed him of a gold bracelet, a ring and Rs 30,000 in cash.

The TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 schedule has been announced. The rich cash league has been one of the most exciting franchise leagues in world cricket. The IPL is set to begin on the 28th of March 2026 and is scheduled to have the final on May 31, 2026.

It has been delayed two days after what the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had originally scheduled. Previously, the BCCI informed the franchises that the toughest T20 league would start on March 26. But as per reports from ESPNcricinfo, it has been delayed; however, nothing has been finalised yet.

IPL to be delayed due to the election

The Governing Council of the IPL will meet next week to decide the release fixtures, which have been postponed due to unannounced assembly election dates in Assam, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu.

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Three franchises, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), play their home games in Kolkata (West Bengal) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Guwahati (Assam) is the second venue for the Rajasthan Royals (RR), due to the election dates.

IPL to happen outside India?

Since the beginning of the tournament in 2008, when the country has had its general elections in 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024, or a state has had its assembly elections, the schedule has been announced in two parts. Only four times has the IPL been played outside India; the first time the tournament was held outside India was back in 2009.

In 2009, the tournament was played fully in South Africa. Then, in 2014, the first part of the tournament was played in the UAE. Then the tournament was divided into two halves in 2019 and 2024. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the second half of the 2021 season.

In 2009, the tournament was played fully in South Africa. Then, in 2014, the first part of the tournament was played in the UAE. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and half of 2021.

The elections will determine whether to use the same strategy this time around or the apex cricketing body of India will wait for the Election Commission of India to issue poll dates for the three states first. The IPL Governing Council is also likely to discuss where the tournament’s opening match will be held.

RCB to play the first game

Reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been scheduled to play the first match, but the opposition for the match has not been decided. The IPL has always been an exciting tournament as it helps to develop the young cricketers from India.

Over the years, several young cricketers have made their name from the tournament, and from there they have gone on to play for the Indian National Cricket Team in the future for long and also for shorter durations as well.

As the tournament motto says, “Yatra Pratibha Avsara Prapnotihi,” which translates to “Where Talent Meets Opportunity”. This signifies the league’s core purpose of providing a platform for young talent to showcase their skills on a global stage.

Also Read: Matt Henry parts ways with New Zealand in the middle of T20 World Cup 2026

Mumbai: In the wake of an FIR against two civic health officials for registering “suspicious” birth cases, Mumbai mayor Ritu Tawde on Friday said it was the health department’s responsibility to verify parents’ documents before issuing birth certificates.Lapses in the birth registration process, she said, had “legalised illegal stays”.“If documents had been checked, it would have been clear the parents were Bangladeshis living illegally in Mumbai and could have been sent back immediately,” she said, claiming of the 237 alleged fake birth certificates issued by the civic health department, 75 have been traced so far.“By issuing fake birth certificates, the civic administration ended up legalising their stay, and even enabled access to voting rights and civic facilities,” she said.The mayor said the scale of the problem could be far bigger. “We believe there could be up to 10,000 such cases. Before my term ends, I want every one of them traced and removed from the city,” she added.On how the system should respond when a woman arrives in labour without documents, Tawde said humanitarian considerations must prevail. “Delivery should not be denied. But if documents are not in order, a birth certificate should not be issued.” On Feb 13, Tawde, along with former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, took a meeting of all civic health department officials. After another meeting held on Feb 17, the BMC lodged an FIR against two of its own suspended health department officials for misusing their official positions while registering births.The FIR states officials approved records of home births without proper examination of documents, and registered nine births at a private nursing home without conducting mandatory inspections.Opposition leaders hit back, accusing the mayor of pushing the administration into a policing role. Verifying the authenticity of parent’s documents, they argued, is not civic officials’ job. Congress corporator Tulip Miranda said, “When a delivery takes place in a moving train, a birth certificate is issued of the place where the birth took place. On what basis are officials expected to deny these birth certificates even though the child only gets a domicile of its parents? We cannot expect civic staff to go and check parents’ records too.” Birth details of a child are expected to be sent to the nearest civic office within 21 days of birth.But Tawde said it’s essential that Bangladeshis are sent back so even issues like them illegally taking over footpaths by hawking can be resolved.“There’s absolutely no question of issuing birth certificates to illegal immigrants in our city. I will be taking a review on this issue once again with the health department very soon. While we cannot deny a woman in labour pain the right to give birth, but this cannot be justified to give them birth certificates at a time when they don’t belong to our country,” said Tawde.

SRINAGAR: Public Safety Act (PSA) was invoked by authorities against a suspect with “non-seriousness” that beats even the sloppiness in issuing a “routine traffic challan”, Jammu and Kashmir high court has held and ordered release of the man jailed nearly two years under J&K’s preventive detention law.The single-judge bench of Justice Rahul Bharti quashed the April 20, 2024, detention order against Shabir Ahmad Dar, 28, ruling that the action against the resident of Anantnag’s Kokernag was “illegal right from its inception”. PSA allows detention up to two years without trial.“This court has no hesitation in observing that J&K Public Safety Act against the petitioner has been invoked by non-seriousness of standard with which even a motorist is not subjected to a routine traffic challan,” Justice Bharti said in a recent order.J&K politicians, especially former CM Mehbooba Mufti and Peoples Conference’s Sajad Lone, have long alleged hundreds of illegal PSA detentions and pressed for the release of such people.In this case, the Anantnag SSP had submitted a dossier against Dar to the district magistrate (DM) in April, 17, 2024 seeking Dar’s PSA detention, claiming his activities were “prejudicial to J&K’s security”. Twelve days later, the DM ordered Dar’s detention in a Jammu prison. Section 8 of PSA gives J&K DMs’ powers to detain anyone under PSA on grounds of security.In this case, the Anantnag DM relied on the police dossier of two pages and an FIR of July 2022 under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to book Dar. The grounds of detention mentioned Dar’s work at a madrassa in Kokernag as well as alleged suspicious activities on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Snapchat.Dar moved the HC against detention in May 2024. Justice Bharti held that his detention “is literally on the dictation of the SSP Anantnag, with the DM Anantnag, at no point of time applying his own independent mind”.Justice Bharti questioned how the authorities could cite an FIR in which Dar did not figure as an accused or an undertrial to justify their apprehension about “alleged activities perceived to be prejudicial to the security of the State”.“To put it simply, the petitioner has been subjected to preventive detention custody just by a blank reference on the part of the SSP followed by equally bland application of mind on the part of the DM Anantnag,” the HC held.

A viral photo from San Francisco has set social media abuzz — and no, it’s not AI generated. The image shows multiple pairs of shoes neatly lined up outside an office door. The location? Cursor, the AI startup founded in 2022 by four MIT alumni — Aman Sanger, Michael Truell, Sualeh Asif and Arvid Lunnemark.Yes, you read that right. Employees are being asked to leave their shoes outside before entering the office. And Cursor isn’t alone. Startups such as Replo, Spur, Speak, Flowhub and Composite are also encouraging staff to ditch their Vans and Uggs at the door. What sounds like a page out of an Indian household rulebook — “chappals bahar rakho” — is quietly becoming a trend in America’s tech capital.According to an NYT report, workers at Spur, which uses AI to check websites for bugs, are given slides to wear inside their office in Manhattan, and guests are asked to do the same. Sneha Sivakumar, a co-founder and the chief executive, told NYT the no-shoes policy “makes it feel like a second home” for her 10 employees and “disarms you in a positive way”. Growing up in an Indian family in Singapore, she often removed shoes in homes and temples to “show respect for a space.” That slippered employees don’t drag in dirt and mud from the street is a “plus point,” she said.Nick Bloom, a Stanford economist who studies work culture, said the shoes-off trend was partly “the pajama economy in action”. That is, now that people who worked from home during the pandemic are back in the office, they are bringing their home habits with them. Here’s the irony: while removing footwear is customary in Indian homes and temples, it’s rare — almost unheard of — in corporate offices. Even in Bengaluru’s startup corridors, no one expects you to park your sneakers outside the glass door.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday rapped the West Bengal govt for rushing to court every now and then with “vague and irrelevant” reasons to delay the completion of the Special Intensive Revision of state electoral rolls, to expedite which the SC has deployed judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha.“Please do not come to the court with vague reasons and try to delay the process. Every day there cannot be an irrelevant reason here and there. There must be an end to it. We went beyond our mandate (by using exclusive powers under Article 142 to direct deployment of judicial officers to carry out a task which is essentially in the EC domain). You are making unnecessary complaints,” CJI Surya Kant said.The remark came after Kapil Sibal levelled the serious charge before the CJI and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that “strange things have happened. EC officials are giving training to judicial officers, who were deployed by the Calcutta HC CJ, on which documents submitted with claims of voters are to be accepted.”Sibal said it marked a violation of the SC’s direction that the modalities would be decided by the chief justice of Calcutta HC. The bench, however, disliked the issues relating to SIR being raked up every now and then by the Bengal govt for one or the other reason.“When we said the HC CJ will decide the modalities, we meant he would decide which judicial officer is to be deployed where and what facilities were to be provided to him. The judicial officer alone will decide the pending claims and validity of documents submitted by the voters,” said the bench, disagreeing with Sibal’s charge about the EC disregarding the SC. Justice Bagchi said, “If the EC officials will not give training to judicial officers, who else will. Our order is as clear as daylight. We gave an alien responsibility to the judicial officers to expedite SIR. Both the state govt and the EC must provide and create a congenial atmosphere for them to work.”Finding the state at the receiving end, Sibal said “the state chief secretary is here as unfortunately her voting rights are being put to question by the EC”. The bench said, “Ask your chief secretary to work in tandem with the EC and judicial officers for expeditious completion of SIR.”Sibal turned to another aspect and said the EC must publish the supplementary voter lists after the publication of the final voter list on Feb 28, as and when a cluster of voters’ names were decided by the judicial officers for inclusion in the voter list.The bench said SIR would be carried out strictly in accordance with court’s orders, which also specify which documents to be accepted for scrutiny of claims.