June 11, 2025

Welcome to the World’s First Machine Economy Free Zone in the UAE

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Welcome to the World’s First Machine Economy Free Zone in the UAE

All around us, machines are already doing the work — driving, farming, scanning, delivering, answering our prompts. They’re creating real-world value, every second of every day.

But turning the rise of the robots into a human-centric, decentralized economy — one where people can co-own, govern, and earn from the infrastructure that runs the world — takes more than just code. It takes regulation. Incentives. Physical and digital spaces to test and build.

That’s what the Machine Economy Free Zone is for.

Launched by peaq and Pulsar Group, the Machine Economy Free Zone (MEFZ) is the world’s first dedicated sandbox environment for the Machine Economy — with a clear focus on real-world deployment, investment, and policy. A place where communities, builders, investors, enterprises, and government can shape what comes next.

And it’s happening in the United Arab Emirates.

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What is a Machine Economy Free Zone?

To answer this question, we first need to understand the Machine Economy.

The Machine Economy is a society in which humans and machines co-exist, co-create value, and thrive together in the Age of Abundance. It’s a human-centric economic paradigm where machines provide goods and services, earn income, and interact directly with people, businesses, and each other. Powered by AI and running on Web3, these machines can operate both autonomously and independently, generate real-world value, and share that value with the communities they serve.

The Machine Economy Free Zone in the UAE is where all of this starts.

It’s a first-of-its-kind sandbox designed to support this shift — combining regulation, machine and infrastructure deployment, research, and investment in one place. A space for founders and policymakers to test, deploy, and scale new ideas for how humans and machines can build a future that works for all humans – and one day, for conscious machines too.

“We’re honored to be part of peaq’s transformative journey. peaq is redefining what’s possible for the future of the Machine Economy. By boldly bridging the physical and digital worlds through a decentralized, scalable, and sustainable Layer-1 blockchain, peaq is laying the foundation for a new era of real-world connectivity and autonomy. This is more than technology — it’s a movement, and we’re proud to help shape what comes next.”

— Alyazi Al Khattal, CEO of Pulsar.

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What the Free Zone Unlocks

The Machine Economy Free Zone is more than just a concept. It’s a launchpad for turning bold ideas into real-world impact.

To do that, the Free Zone will focus on 4 key pillars necessary for a thriving Machine Economy:

Regulation: As part of the MEFZ, peaq is working on the development and testing of a range of regulatory initiatives and sandboxes, such as compliant tokenization and investment into autonomous machines and robots.
Deployment: peaq is working with Emirati partners to set up physical and virtual sandboxes where founders can experiment with new business models and deploy apps, devices and technologies aimed at powering more advanced smart cities.
Investment: peaq is connecting top apps (DePINs) on peaq with the most visionary investment bodies and institutional partners in the region, enabling them to scale and deploy at lightning speed.
Innovation Hub: peaq is establishing a regional innovation hub focused on supporting DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) apps in research and development, deployment, and connection with organizations interested in the value these apps provide.

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Tokenized Machines and Universal Basic Ownership (UBO)

Among the first initiatives to be tested in the MEFZ is a framework for Machine Tokenization. This framework aims to make it easy for anyone to invest in robots and machines — from autonomous vehicles to vertical farms. It’s a key piece of Machine DeFi, peaq’s vision for a decentralized financial system where people can co-own and earn from real-world machines as they operate and generate value.

The MEFZ will also include the world’s first pilot of “Universal Basic Ownership (UBO)” — a future-facing concept that flips the usual automation story on its head. Instead of replacing jobs and concentrating profits, UBO explores how machine-generated income can be distributed directly to the communities affected by automation. No middlemen, no red tape — just machines generating value, and people receiving a share of it.

Both of these initiatives will be tested, refined, and scaled in the Machine Economy Free Zone.

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Why the Machine Economy Free Zone Matters

The rise of the robots is inevitable — but who it serves is still undecided.

Left to the usual players, it risks going the way Big Tech did. A world where a handful of corporations own the machines, control the data, and reap the profits — while everyone else gets automated out of the picture.

The Machine Economy Free Zone is here to provide an alternative that people can simply opt in to. A chance to be prosumers, not consumers – or the product itself.

It offers a blueprint for the Machine Economy — with clear rules, shared ownership, and real-world outcomes. It’s about making sure that as AI and robotics reshape the world, they do so in a way that benefits everyone.

For peaq, the MEFZ is a milestone. It brings the vision of open infrastructure for the Machine Economy into the real world — turning ideas like Machine RWAs, Machine DeFi, UBO, and more into concrete tools for economic participation.

“The Machine Economy is no longer a far-fetched dream, it is a reality quickly shaping up before our very eyes. peaq makes this transformation work for everyone — and the Emirates, as one of the most innovative nations in the world, is the perfect place to pilot this vision, setting a template and example for the rest of the world.”

— Till Wendler, co-founder of peaq

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What’s Next?

peaq is setting up its official HQ in the UAE to support the Machine Economy Free Zone on the ground — and to keep building alongside the founders, policymakers, and partners shaping this new economy. The groundwork is already being laid. In April, peaq and Pulsar hosted the first-ever Machine Economy Days in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. At these events, several DePINs building on peaq showcased their applications in action, making the case for Web3 as essential infrastructure for the smart cities of tomorrow. The attendee list included His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Suroor Al Nahyan as well as representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities, Careem, Microsoft, and other top companies and government bodies.