Lootah Robotics, an Emirati robotics company, has opened the UAE's first dedicated humanoid robotics showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road, near the Dubai International Financial Centre. The launch event featured 28 robots on display and drew more than 4,000 viewers on a livestream, during which humanoid robots danced and played football alongside children from the company's robotics academy.

Yousif Al Lootah, the company's founder, said the showroom supports Dubai's leadership vision of reaching 200,000 active robots across the city by 2032, a target set under the Dubai Robotics and Automation Programme launched in 2022. The programme aims to push robotics' contribution to Dubai's GDP to 9 per cent and place the emirate among the world's top ten robotics hubs.

Addressing concerns about job displacement, Al Lootah said some people fear robots will take over human jobs, but argued the technology is meant to enhance human work rather than replace it.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Faisal Al Bannai, Adviser to the UAE President and Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), were among the figures linked to the initiative. The opening comes as Dubai has significantly ramped up investment in robotics and artificial intelligence in recent months, part of a broader push to position the emirate as a global hub for automation and advanced manufacturing technologies.