What does it look like when a city becomes a laboratory for innovation? His Excellency Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, explains why Dubai is cutting the bureaucratic red tape to experiment with big ideas in everything from AI and emerging tech to finance and climate solutions. The future, he says, depends on those willing to test it. (This conversation is hosted by TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers.) (Recorded at TED@BCG on October 23, 2025)
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@TheNizoubizou
July 31, 2026 at 11:03 am
Dubai represents everything wrong in this world.
@hazikmukhtar7436
July 31, 2026 at 1:07 pm
You spelled America wrong!!!
@CecilCeceRobert
July 31, 2026 at 3:55 pm
Are you his excellency’s private account or something? Pointing out Dubai is a terrible place doesn’t somehow excuse any issues elsewhere in the world. Two places in the world can have problems.
@asoliman9
July 31, 2026 at 11:08 am
Stop whitewashing Dubai, the city of prostitution and human trafficking
@cavalaxis
July 31, 2026 at 11:08 am
The first step would be to get rid of the slavery and economic oppression, but go off about how you’re the city of the future.
@autumn7809
July 31, 2026 at 11:20 am
@cavalaxis and like… to stop imprisoning women who want too much independence
@BimmieJames
July 31, 2026 at 11:23 am
@autumn7809 it’s more class stratification because wealthy women in Dubai do have essentially an honorary masculine status.
@BimmieJames
July 31, 2026 at 11:28 am
I realized that this is actually desperate advertising for foreign investors into Dubai disguised as promoting Dubai as a leading city. In fact it’s quite brazenly attempting a confidence trick on behalf of private capital in Dubai who are getting very afraid, rightly so.
@AL-lh2ht
July 31, 2026 at 2:00 pm
@BimmieJamesDubai is one of the fastest growing cities on earth. It everything is a deep state conspiracy
@BimmieJames
July 31, 2026 at 3:02 pm
@AL-lh2ht I don’t.. believe you lul
@BimmieJames
July 31, 2026 at 11:15 am
Literally the worst person to future’splain; using the world’s most fakest city with a massive population (~40%) of quasi chattel and actual indentured servants that only exists due to a world reliance on a petrol economy. How much TED?
@kordestansaadi7447
July 31, 2026 at 11:18 am
Well said 🙏 How do I as an AI developer and Solution Architect can apply for a job and be part of this amazing project? Sooooo interested!
@thehotyounggrandpas8207
July 31, 2026 at 11:26 am
City of the future with NO HUMAN RIGHTS?
@Luos31
July 31, 2026 at 5:25 pm
The name of the game is SURVIVAL! Do it if you can however you can! You think human morals override survival? That’s the loser bet buddy.
@jujumama
July 31, 2026 at 11:31 am
Please FAIL at this.. but don’t forget to waste all your money first
@EnglishBeginnerPractice
July 31, 2026 at 11:35 am
Super clear and straight to the point. Thanks for sharing!
@darude1420
July 31, 2026 at 11:48 am
Apart from longevity, the other two things are just pointless at this stage. Learn how to live on our current planet before rushing to destroy another.
@KhanSaahab
July 31, 2026 at 11:57 am
Iran says Salam
@Repossessedurass
July 31, 2026 at 12:01 pm
A city built on modern slavery, corruption and murder. Ya, just your totally normal average city that’s totally safe for all of humanity. Sounds like a great place to have my destination wedding for my husband and I.
@hazikmukhtar7436
July 31, 2026 at 1:04 pm
You spelled America wrong!!
@AL-lh2ht
July 31, 2026 at 2:01 pm
“Modern slavery” a made up term to redirect slavery as “any expat hired”.
@Repossessedurass
July 31, 2026 at 4:49 pm
@hazikmukhtar7436 You’ll get no argument from me on that. The problem ss Dubai isn’t just as bad as America it’s objectively worse since they don’t have the same freedoms and protections for citizens and guests.
@hazikmukhtar7436
July 31, 2026 at 5:18 pm
@Repossessedurass You can froth at the mouth with your hollow use of buzzwords like “subjectively” and “objectively,” but your baseless accusations against Dubai—”modern slavery,” “corruption,” “murder”—lack even a shred of empirical proof. If you possessed the capacity for genuine critical analysis, you would realize that these grotesque labels are a perfect mirror reflecting the systemic decay of the United States and its Western allies, not the UAE.
You brazenly cry “modern slavery,” yet millions of people from around the globe willingly flock to Dubai seeking the economic opportunities and upward mobility that your nations fail to provide. Contrast that with the grim reality of the US and Europe, where immigrants and laborers are relentlessly dehumanized, treated like animals, and routinely stripped of their national pride and basic human dignity. The hypocrisy speaks for itself.
And let’s address this mythical “freedom” that Hollywood propagandists have so thoroughly hardwired into your uncritical mind. This fabricated liberty exists nowhere but on your movie screens. When the mask slips, the reality of your system is glaring: just look at the brutal state suppression of university students protesting a genocide, the silencing of activists, and the violent crackdowns on anyone who dares to express dissent against a war-mongering American regime.
You can keep preaching about your so-called freedom, but the rest of the world sees exactly what you are..
@Jasonxbr
July 31, 2026 at 12:39 pm
Yea you guys use slavery and the exploitation of migrants that ends in uncountable death, accidents- none payments- the amount of resources and cash to achieve absolute nothing in the harshest environment on the planet 🙄- yea great job guys- you psychopathic narcissist demagogue complex 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 Jesus Christ man my god we failed as a society also want to add the human violations against women- desalination that in turn output brim that kills the ocean marine. 😢😢😢😢😢😢 clearly its a two tier class system rule by oil oligarchs monarchy dynasties oppression state
@AL-lh2ht
July 31, 2026 at 2:02 pm
This guy can’t even make coherent sentences but you will praise him because “Arab bad”
@_BangDroid_
July 31, 2026 at 3:27 pm
@AL-lh2ht You are working overtime to defend and deflect Dubai. It is suspicious. I hope you’re getting paid!
@CecilCeceRobert
July 31, 2026 at 3:57 pm
No, I’ll like his comment because he’s capable of recognizing slavery=bad, religion be damned.
@AL-lh2ht
July 31, 2026 at 4:23 pm
@_BangDroid_ You think refuting obvious lies is some deep state conspiracy.
@AL-lh2ht
July 31, 2026 at 4:24 pm
@CecilCeceRobert You do know most countries on earth hire expats right? I guess everyone is a slave state.
@_BangDroid_
July 31, 2026 at 12:58 pm
Do it without slave labor, or better yet, pay the workers and laborers a decent wage, you have more than enough money, who cares if it costs 2x or 3x more, you guys basically just print money.
But it’s almost as if a wealth and equality divide is the point, isn’t it?
@AL-lh2ht
July 31, 2026 at 2:03 pm
Why do you think expats flock to Dubai. They are paid well. Not that you care, you think someone having a job is a slave.
@_BangDroid_
July 31, 2026 at 3:24 pm
@AL-lh2ht Rich expats flock to Dubai because exploitation is not just tolerated, it’s a part of society. Tell me, why are all the laborers from places like Pakistan, India or the Philippines? Why are their passports withheld in many cases? I have seen the shantytowns built for them, they are slums. Not to mention the poor worker safety standards. Their lives are disposable.
Don’t twist my words, it’s dishonest and shows you are arguing from bad faith.
Having a job is not slavery, but being paid poorly under a regime that is one of the wealthiest places in the world, where you have few rights and in many cases cannot leave, is modern slavery.
@AL-lh2ht
July 31, 2026 at 3:43 pm
@_BangDroid_ except passports being taken was made illegal a decade ago. That’s how old your propaganda is.
@_BangDroid_
July 31, 2026 at 5:05 pm
@AL-lh2ht Lol so you admit it did happen!? 10 years is nothing either. It was also happening during the World Cup. The fact they had to explicitly make it illegal proves my point, it was such a rampant problem, they needed a law to appease foreign nations.
@Monique-q2t
July 31, 2026 at 8:46 pm
Billionaire’s playground is how Dubai was advertised to the rest of the world.
@qawarful
July 31, 2026 at 1:12 pm
TED, ideas worth spreading?
Is slavery an idea worth spreading? What a joke
@GigiGuitar
July 31, 2026 at 2:01 pm
TED used to be a good place.
@n.chabot1217
July 31, 2026 at 2:30 pm
I don’t want to hear what some guy who calls himself “his excellency” has to say.
@USABADALVIRAL143
July 31, 2026 at 2:58 pm
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
@bluu6452
July 31, 2026 at 3:35 pm
Why give someone like him a platform?
@MikeHageman
July 31, 2026 at 4:44 pm
Dubai, the absurd parody of the 21th century. Panic starts to set in, the oil reserves will deplete and they realize that they have to get another business model.
Attracting foreign companies with tax – and law exemptions. Free trade zones and special regulations.
And still oppressing women and minorities, slave labourers from Pakistan and India and so on and on.
And then make it shine like a diamond with absurd city ideas. Trying to make a desert livable while destroying the planet around them. Totally absurd.
And really TED: a podium for this absurdity? Must have been an expensive one.
@hrysivjt67
July 31, 2026 at 4:48 pm
Sure didn’t think about climate change in that future, did you.
@Luos31
July 31, 2026 at 5:23 pm
I never thought such a eye open leader existed! He’s realistic, brilliant and feet on the ground future oriented.
@drouu
July 31, 2026 at 6:47 pm
does this city include basic human rights?
@Monique-q2t
July 31, 2026 at 8:42 pm
Didn’t Dubai get bombed by trump
@BestBuysReviewedAutomotive
July 31, 2026 at 8:42 pm
I’m 100% convinced that Bali will become the next Dubai. Just look at how many wealthy Russians have already moved their money there