The release of an open source model by the United Arab Emirates showcases significant progress in artificial intelligence investments, rivaling the advancements made by both the United States and China. Known as K2 Think, this innovative model developed by researchers at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi represents a breakthrough in sovereign AI models. G42, an Emirati tech conglomerate supported by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds, is offering K2 Think for free and utilizing Cerebras chips to run the model, distinguishing it from Nvidia’s hardware.

In the global race for AI dominance with major players like the US and China, smaller nations are also stepping up their efforts to develop their own sovereign AI models. K2 Think, despite its relatively small size with 32 billion parameters, excels in reasoning tasks and competes favorably with models like OpenAI and DeepSeek that have over 200 billion parameters. Eric Xing, president of MBZUAI and lead AI researcher, describes K2 Think as a technical innovation poised to disrupt the field.

Xing highlights the effective integration of recent technical advances in K2 Think, such as fine-tuning on simulated reasoning sequences, agentic planning processes for problem-solving, and reinforcement learning for accurate answers. The model’s efficiency on Cerebras chips is another notable achievement. By demonstrating how a smaller model can perform comparably to larger systems, Xing believes there are valuable lessons for others to learn from their approach.

Furthermore, the UAE’s substantial investments in AI infrastructure align with similar efforts in the Middle East region, including Saudi Arabia. Notable AI deals announced during President Donald Trump’s visit to the region underscore the strategic importance of these investments. The UAE’s commitment to becoming a key research hub is evident through cutting-edge AI research initiatives and collaborations with US tech companies.

Peng Xiao, CEO of G42 and a board member at MBZUAI, emphasized Abu Dhabi’s role in shaping global innovation through groundbreaking achievements like K2 Think. This success story showcases how Abu Dhabi is leading the charge in advancing AI technology on a global scale.