Why oil-rich gulf states are moving fastest on humanoid robots and automation
Wealth Gulf states are moving fast on humanoid robots
Dubai just opened a humanoid robot showroom with 28 robots on display. Saudi Arabia has a deal potentially worth 10,000 humanoids over five years. And Dubai has a government-backed ambition to deploy 200,000 robots by 2032.
Why are the wealthy Gulf states pushing so aggressively into humanoid robotics and automation?
Money is obviously part of the answer. Oil wealth makes it easier to invest in expensive new technologies, and the Gulf's governments have made economic diversification and technological leadership national priorities.
But there's another, potentially much bigger reason: millions of foreign workers.
The Gulf states have built entire economies around importing human labour. Millions of workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, and elsewhere build the skyscrapers, staff the hotels, operate the warehouses, clean the buildings, and maintain the infrastructure that makes these countries work.
Now, at least in theory, robots could do some of those jobs.
And that could fundamentally alter the economics of the Gulf, not to mention the lives and livelihoods of millions of migrant workers and their families.
Millions of workers, mostly foreigners
The Gulf's dependence on imported labour is extraordinary.
UAE: Approximately 88.5% of the country's population consisted of foreign nationals in 2024, according to figures cited by the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia: 14.8 million foreign workers accounted for 78% of total employment at the end of 2025.
Qatar: Migrant workers account for approximately 94% of the country's labour force, according to International Labour Organization figures based on 2023 data.
Gulf Cooperation Council: There were approximately 20.7 million non-national workers across GCC countries in 2024, excluding the UAE because comparable nationality data weren't available.
In the UAE, foreign nationals also account for more than 95% of private-sector workers, according to figures cited by the US State Department.
That is a remarkable level of dependence on people who are not citizens.
Unlike countries where automation primarily threatens jobs held by citizens and voters, Gulf governments have enormous foreign workforces whose employment and residency are often linked to employer sponsorship.
As robots become capable of performing more service, logistics, cleaning, construction, and manufacturing tasks, employers could theoretically reduce their dependence on imported labour without facing the same degree of domestic political resistance that might emerge elsewhere.
The economics of robots versus guest workers
There's an economic argument for automation as well, although it's more complicated than it might initially appear.
Guest workers may be relatively inexpensive, but employing them can involve recruitment, visas, accommodation, transportation, insurance, and administrative costs. Robots require capital, electricity, maintenance, software, and technical support, but they can potentially operate for longer hours without the additional infrastructure required to support an imported human workforce.
And unlike a workforce that must continually be recruited, transported, housed, and managed, a fleet of robots could eventually offer more predictable operating costs.
But there's a catch.
Low-cost migrant labour is actually one of the biggest economic obstacles to humanoid robotics in the Gulf. A robot costing tens of thousands of dollars, requiring frequent maintenance, and performing only a limited number of tasks may struggle to compete with a relatively inexpensive human employee.
The calculation changes as robots become cheaper, more capable, and more autonomous.
It also changes when governments value reduced dependence on imported labour, technological sovereignty, and higher productivity alongside the immediate cost of getting work done.
That's where the Gulf's enormous financial resources and government-backed technology strategies come into play.
Dubai's humanoid robot showroom
Dubai's newest humanoid showroom opened November 6 on Sheikh Zayed Road, near the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Operated by YS Lootah Robotics, a division of the Yousuf Saeed Lootah Investment Group, the showroom opened with 28 robots on the floor. Its lineup includes the Unitree G1, Unitree R1, AgiBot X2, and Pudu commercial cleaning robots.
At the opening, five humanoids demonstrated presenting, dancing, and playing football with children from the company's robotics academy. More than 4,000 people reportedly watched online. Purchase prices across the showroom's broader robotic inventory range from AED 50,000 to AED 3 million, or approximately $13,600 to $817,000 USD. Customers can also rent robots, with Lootah offering programming, operation, and maintenance services.
The showroom is an important piece of infrastructure for a market that wants to buy and deploy robots at scale.
And Dubai has certainly made its intentions clear.
In September 2022, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Dubai Robotics and Automation Programme with an ambition to deploy 200,000 robots across the emirate by 2032 and raise robotics and automation's contribution to GDP to 9%.
That's a government-backed target, not a firm procurement order just yet. It also encompasses all types of robots, not just humanoids.
Industrial arms, autonomous mobile robots, cleaning machines, drones, and specialized service robots can all contribute. Dubai already has substantial automation expertise in ports, logistics, and transportation.
But the scale of the ambition is significant.
Faisal Al Bannai, the UAE President's Adviser and Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, has predicted that the UAE will become the largest deployer of autonomous vehicles and advanced robotics outside China within a year.
Saudi Arabia has a potential 10,000-humanoid deal
Saudi Arabia is pursuing a similar ambition, with a greater emphasis on industrial deployment, local assembly, and government-supported economic diversification.
In November 2025, UK-based Humanoid AI opened a showroom in Riyadh in partnership with QSS AI & Robotics. Called the Humanoid Lounge, the facility offers demonstrations, workshops, and opportunities for companies to evaluate humanoid systems.
The two companies also announced a non-binding pre-order framework for up to 10,000 humanoid robots over five years, with QSS exploring local assembly, customization, and support through its Riyadh Robotics Factory.
That's not 10,000 confirmed purchases. But it does illustrate the scale of Saudi Arabia's ambitions.
Artem Sokolov, founder and CEO of Humanoid, described Saudi Arabia as "moving faster than any region in the world to integrate humanoid robotics into industrial use."
Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 program provides a powerful strategic framework for investments in industrial automation, advanced manufacturing, and emerging technologies.
Saudi Arabia has substantial industrial scale, large state-backed investment vehicles, and an opportunity to develop domestic manufacturing and robotics capabilities. The UAE has sophisticated logistics infrastructure, international trade relationships, free zones, and an established ecosystem for importing and deploying advanced technologies.
Both want to become regional robotics hubs.
China is supplying many of the robots
One other interesting aspect of Dubai's new showroom: the prominent presence of Chinese robotics manufacturers.
Lootah Robotics carries humanoids from Unitree and AgiBot, along with commercial robots from Pudu. The company identifies itself as Pudu's official distributor in the UAE and provides local sales and support for selected Unitree and AgiBot platforms. Chinese companies have a significant advantage here. They already have humanoid robots available for purchase, often at prices substantially below many Western industrial humanoid offerings.
Unitree's G1, for example, starts around $16,000 USD at its advertised base price, although actual configurations, shipping, and support can cost more.
Western competitors are developing increasingly capable platforms, but relatively few offer similarly accessible humanoids at comparable commercial volumes and entry-level prices.
There's also a geopolitical dimension. The Gulf states maintain important defense and technology relationships with the United States while simultaneously building commercial partnerships with Chinese technology companies. Connected robots equipped with cameras, microphones, sensors, and cloud-connected software could eventually raise some of the same data-security and strategic-dependence questions already surrounding other Chinese technologies.
For now, Chinese robot manufacturers have an opportunity to establish commercial relationships, distribution networks, and deployment experience in a region that is actively seeking automation.
What happens to the guest workers?
The consequences of robot adoption in the Gulf could eventually extend far beyond Dubai, Riyadh, or Doha.
Consider remittances.
According to the World Bank, the UAE recorded approximately $58 billion in outward remittances in 2024, making it the world's second-largest source of remittance outflows after the United States. That's an enormous flow of money from people working in one country to households and economies elsewhere.
If robots eventually replace even a meaningful portion of the Gulf's migrant workforce, the effects could be felt in communities across South and Southeast Asia that depend on earnings sent home from overseas.
There's another possibility, however: automation may not immediately mean mass displacement.
Instead, employers might gradually reduce new recruitment, choose not to replace departing workers, or shift humans toward supervisory and maintenance roles as robots take over routine tasks.
From importing humans to importing robots
Let's be realistic: today's humanoids are not yet capable of replacing millions of migrant workers.
Much of what passes for commercial humanoid robotics is still early-stage deployment, pilot testing, teleoperation, or demonstrations. Cleaning robots and other specialized automated systems are much more commercially mature in many applications. The Gulf also faces the same technical challenges as everyone else: reliability, dexterity, autonomy, maintenance costs, and the difficulty of operating safely in unpredictable environments.
Nor is there evidence that the Gulf's current robotics programs are explicitly designed to replace migrant workers at scale. Government announcements generally emphasize productivity, economic diversification, competitiveness, and technological development.
But the longer-term incentives are difficult to ignore.
The Gulf has money, ambitious government technology programs, significant infrastructure requirements, and an extraordinarily large imported workforce. It also has the ability to make centralized decisions about industrial investment and public-sector technology adoption.
That's an unusual combination.
The countries that spent decades importing millions of humans to build and operate their economies may become some of the earliest large-scale importers of robots to help run them.
And if that happens, it could change far more than the economics of robotics.
Sources
Written by
I tell stories with data and build startups. I've raised angel and VC funds, led software companies and startups, and chronicled the rise of the mobile economy. Currently I write for Forbes, host several podcasts, and am starting up HumanoidMegaHub. I was TUNE's mobile economist and Singular's VP of Insights, built the research team at VentureBeat, and managed teams creating software for partners like Intel and Disney. In past lives I built websites, e-learning platforms, and mobile apps, and, a long time ago, was named to Folio's top 100 of the media industry's "most innovative entrepreneurs and market shaker-uppers.”