Abu Dhabi university unveils AI model to take on US and China

• MBZUAI releases open-source K2 Think V2
• UAE plans to develop sovereign systems
• Fraction of cost of US and Chinese models

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi has unveiled the latest version of an open-source model that researchers say places the UAE alongside the US and China in the race for dominance of the sector.

The university this week released K2 Think V2, an advanced system designed for complex reasoning tasks and published with full disclosure of its algorithms, training data and code.

The launch supports the UAE’s ambition to develop “sovereign” capabilities at a time when the global landscape is dominated by US and Chinese developers.

MBZUAI president Eric Xing said the release would address a growing imbalance in the open-model sector. Chinese groups have surged ahead in the AI race for dominance while US tech companies have become increasingly cautious about publishing the inner workings of their systems.

“In the Western community there hasn’t really been an answer to the Chinese open-weight models,” Xing told the Financial Times, adding that transparency was becoming critical as the technology is embedded in public services and national infrastructure.

The launch comes as Abu Dhabi expands investment in computing infrastructure, including advanced data-centre capacity linked to the OpenAI-led Stargate project and through MGX, its state-backed AI investment vehicle.

Testing by independent AI benchmarking company Artificial Analysis found that K2 Think V2 performs at a comparable level to leading open models from the US and China.

The system scored strongly on reducing errors, or “hallucinations”, which remain a major obstacle to deploying the technology in high-risk environments.

Artificial Analysis said K2 Think V2 ranked at the top of its openness benchmarks, reflecting MBZUAI’s decision to publish its training methodology in full. The company was paid by the university to evaluate the model before its release.

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Keegan McBride, a senior policy adviser on emerging technology and geopolitics at the Tony Blair Institute, said the UAE had joined a small group of countries capable of building globally competitive systems.

“The UAE is investing a lot of resources and they continue to punch above their weight,” he said. “What we are seeing is a country that has taken this seriously for a long time now reaping the benefits.”

MBZUAI said K2 Think V2 was trained at a fraction of the cost of comparable US and Chinese models, using fewer than 2,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced chips.