The United Arab Emirates continues to exhibit its commitment to innovation across various fields, securing its position at the forefront of advancements. In May, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence introduced the “Foundation Models Institute,” which is dedicated to advancing the “K2 Think” model, further strengthening the nation’s global standing in artificial intelligence research. The university’s partnerships director, Rauda Al Marikhi, provided insights about this initiative.
Global Leadership
Rauda Al Marikhi stated, “Through the Foundation Models Institute launched in May 2025, we are spearheading research efforts to develop the ‘K2 Think’ model in collaboration with the G42 group. This partnership merges academic research with practical applications, leveraging the supercomputing capabilities of Cerebras. This model marks a qualitative achievement that enhances the UAE’s status as a leading global destination for artificial intelligence research by providing the first open-source, integrated inference model worldwide, covering everything from training data and coding weights to the deployment and optimization code during testing.”
She added, “The model relies on just 32 billion parameters, yet it’s designed to outperform models with 20 times that amount. The reason this smaller set is more efficient than larger models lies in its comprehensive approach; it’s not merely a model but a complete inference system. Its efficiency stems from pre-thought planning combined with experimental response evaluations, selecting the optimal answer. This methodology increases accuracy and shortens responses by 10 to 20%, making the model faster and more effective. Thus, ‘K2 Think’ demonstrates that intelligence is not about size but rather the smart design that rivals models many times its scale.”
Economic Impact
Regarding the economic benefits for researchers and startups in the UAE and globally, she noted, “This accelerates innovation in critical sectors such as education and health, by enabling practical, applicable solutions. Consequently, ‘K2 Think’ opens up opportunities for a broader community of innovators and researchers to leverage advanced inference techniques, fostering a more dynamic environment that encourages experimentation. Unlike most global models like ChatGPT or Gemini, which are closed-source, ‘K2 Think’ is entirely open-source—from data and weights to code. This stands out as a key advantage not found in other significant models and emphasizes that it’s more than a model; it’s a comprehensive system integrating advanced techniques like supervised learning for long-chain reasoning and verifiable reinforcement learning, along with scalability during inference. It is not just an open-source model but a holistic operational approach that provides a thorough framework for researchers, laboratories, and industries to build upon, offering the research and industrial community a unique opportunity for innovation and development. We are excited to see what the community can achieve based on this methodology.”
Strategic Advantage
She emphasized, “The UAE’s early investment in inference models, as opposed to the generative model path favored by some countries, provides a strategic advantage by focusing on efficiently and realistically solving complex issues. This enhances the UAE’s capability to develop advanced systems and positions it among the leading nations shaping the future of artificial intelligence, particularly in practical, applicable innovations.”
She pointed out that the ‘K2 Think’ ability to generate 2,000 codes per second signifies the completion of tasks that previously took minutes in mere seconds, markedly enhancing efficiency and saving time. Despite being a model based on 32 billion parameters, it competes effectively with models hundreds of times larger, making it easier to deploy and more practical for widespread use. This balance between high performance and moderate size reflects a sustainable economic approach, reinforcing the case for adopting artificial intelligence within a transparent framework that allows researchers and the global scientific community to benefit from and advance the innovations.
By launching such a high-efficiency, secure open-source model, the UAE positions itself at the forefront of establishing global standards and frameworks for artificial intelligence governance. As one of the first countries to provide completely open-source AI models, it sends a clear message to the world: it can compete with the largest global centers in artificial intelligence. This achievement is not merely technical; it illustrates the maturity of the national innovation ecosystem, translating national heritage into living scientific innovations for future generations. Additionally, it enhances the combination of openness, transparency, and commitment to responsibility, affirming the nation’s role as a reliable strategic partner, thereby granting it a significant voice in international discussions about the future of artificial intelligence. Making the model accessible to all supports international collaboration and accelerates innovation.