UAE launches new Falcon AI model to compete with Meta and OpenAI

The Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi has released Falcon 2 11B, an updated AI model that rivals OpenAI's GPT and Google's Gemini.

According to TII, Falcon 2 11B outperforms Meta’s latest model and is comparable to Google's Gemini. This move underscores the UAE's goal to become a major player in AI, following significant investments in AI technologies and infrastructure.

Faisal Al Bannai, secretary general of the Advanced Technology Research Council, highlighted Falcon's efficiency and superior performance despite fewer resources. Falcon, first launched in 2023, is open-source and has seen over 43 million downloads.

In November, the council launched AI71 to commercialize Falcon, testing it in healthcare, legal services, and other sectors within the UAE, with plans to expand globally. The Falcon team, consisting of around 60 researchers, has also incorporated "vision-to-language capabilities," beneficial for various business applications.

Future development will be managed by the Falcon Foundation to ensure it remains open-source, with another version expected soon. Additionally, Abu Dhabi’s AI firm G42, backed by Microsoft, unveiled a new app for its Arabic-language AI chatbot, Jais.