Dubai’s 1 Billion Followers Summit ends with record turnout

Dubai: The fourth edition of the 1 Billion Followers Summit concluded in Dubai after three days of discussions on the future of the content creation economy. The event, billed as the world’s largest gathering for digital creators, drew record attendance and strong global online engagement.

Mohammad Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said the summit marked a major step forward. “This edition positioned the UAE as a global leader in the content economy, with a strong focus on meaningful content that creates positive impact,” he said.

More than 30,000 people attended the summit, including over 15,000 content creators and influencers from around the world, highlighting the event’s growing international reach.

The summit featured over 580 sessions, including keynote speeches, panels, workshops and roundtable discussions. More than 500 global speakers took part, with a combined audience of over 3.5 billion followers across platforms.

Al Gergawi said the agenda focused on real challenges facing the creator economy, including sustainability, ethics and monetisation. He added that partnerships were announced with five major global platforms to support high-quality and responsible digital content.

“These partnerships reflect the summit’s core mission to promote content that benefits society,” he said.

A key theme this year was the use of artificial intelligence to support creators. Sessions explored how AI tools can help expand reach, improve storytelling and open new business opportunities.

As part of this focus, the summit launched the AI Film Award in partnership with Google Gemini. The competition attracted more than 30,000 entries from 116 countries. Filmmaker Zoubeir Jlassi won the $1 million top prize for his film Lily, announced during a special ceremony.

The summit also hosted hands-on workshops showing creators how to use emerging AI tools in their work.

Al Gergawi said the summit plays a key role in shaping the future of the content industry. “This event reflects the UAE’s strategy to build a sustainable and growing economic sector around content creation,” he said.

He added that the country’s infrastructure, strong partnerships and trust with global companies have helped drive the summit’s success and will support its growth in future editions.

Among the standout initiatives was the Educator Award, launched with TikTok. It attracted 610,000 participants and generated 320,000 videos, reaching 1.8 billion views.

The summit also announced partnerships with YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, X and Meta to promote positive digital content.

In collaboration with global creator MrBeast, the summit launched the 1 Billion Acts of Kindness campaign. Within three weeks, creators shared more than 170,000 acts of kindness, generating over 100 million views.

In addition, 20 global creators were selected to lead humanitarian projects in Ghana, supported by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives and the Varkey Foundation.