UAE launches advanced AI model to rival big tech companies

The United Arab Emirates has made a significant leap in the field of artificial intelligence with the release of a new open-source GenAI model by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi. The Falcon 2 series, consisting of Falcon 2 11B and Falcon 2 11B VLM, is set to rival models from big tech companies.

The Falcon 2 11B is a text-based model, while the Falcon 2 11B VLM is a vision-to-language model that can generate a text description of uploaded images. This release showcases the UAE’s commitment to investing in AI technology, positioning itself as a major player in the global AI landscape.

The UAE’s focus on AI has not gone unnoticed, with U.S. officials closely monitoring the country’s technological advancements. Emirati AI firm G42 took proactive measures by divesting stakes in Chinese companies and securing a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft, aligning with Washington’s interests.

The Falcon 2 series launch comes at a time when companies and countries are racing to develop large language models following the success of ChatGPT by OpenAI. While some choose to keep their AI code proprietary, UAE’s Falcon and Meta’s Llama have made their code publicly available, fostering collaboration and innovation in the AI community.

Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, expressed optimism about Falcon 2’s performance and hinted at the development of the “Falcon 3 generation.” With the UAE’s continued dedication to AI research and development, the country is poised to compete with the best players globally, solidifying its position as a leader in artificial intelligence.