A research arm of the Abu Dhabi government, the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), has unveiled a new Arabic-language artificial intelligence model named Falcon Arabic. This initiative aims to secure the UAE’s technological advantage over competitors in the Middle East.

Falcon Arabic was trained using a diverse dataset that includes Modern Standard Arabic as well as various regional dialects. TII asserts that this new model matches the performance of AI models that are up to 10 times its size. In addition, TII has launched Falcon H1, a smaller version that reportedly outperforms similar-sized models developed by Meta Platforms Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

In the Middle East, companies are reconsidering the high costs associated with developing advanced AI models from scratch. The introduction of the Falcon models indicates that the United Arab Emirates is determined to remain competitive in the AI sector.

Despite Falcon being the leading offering from the UAE, it has encountered challenges in keeping pace with advancements from open-source alternatives provided by Meta and China’s DeepSeek. In 2023, TII highlighted Falcon’s top ranking in open-source models on Hugging Face, a prominent platform for the industry. However, as of last month, Falcon did not appear in the top 500 on the platform’s leaderboard, and its user count continues to lag behind that of Meta and other competitors.

The UAE is also exploring additional avenues to capitalize on the growing AI boom beyond just model development. G42, a prominent Emirati tech conglomerate, has recently announced plans to construct a 5-gigawatt data center campus in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with several US firms. Additionally, MGX, an investment fund co-established by G42, has partnered with Nvidia Corp. and French companies to create what they claim will be the largest AI data center campus in Europe. MGX has also invested in US AI developers, including OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI.