Latest news with #FaisalAlBannai
Al Etihad
24-05-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute launches two new AI models
24 May 2025 09:32 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)The UAE's Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), has unveiled two major AI advancements: Falcon Arabic, the first-ever Arabic language model in the Falcon series - now the best-performing Arabic AI model in the region - and Falcon H1, a new model that redefines performance and portability through a new architectural the small-to-medium size category of AI models (30 to 70 billion parameters), Falcon H1 outperforms comparable offerings from Meta's LLaMA and Alibaba's Qwen, enabling real-world AI on everyday devices and in resource-limited announcement was made during a keynote address by Faisal Al Bannai, Advisor to the UAE President and Secretary General of ATRC, at the recently concluded Make it in the Emirates event in Abu on top of Falcon 3-7B (7-billion-parameter), Falcon Arabic is one of the most advanced Arabic AI models developed to date. Trained on a high-quality native, non-translated Arabic dataset spanning Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects, it captures the full linguistic diversity of the Arab to the Open Arabic LLM Leaderboard benchmarks, Falcon Arabic outperforms all other regionally available Arabic language models, reinforcing its leadership in sovereign, multilingual AI. It ranks as the best-performing Arabic model in its class, matching the performance of models up to 10 times its size, proving that smart architecture can outperform the newly launched Falcon H1 model is designed to dramatically expand access to high-performance AI by reducing the computing power and technical expertise traditionally required to run advanced systems. The announcement builds on the success of TII's Falcon 3 series, which ranked among the top global AI models capable of operating on a single graphics processing unit (GPU), a major breakthrough that enabled developers, startups, and institutions without high-end infrastructure to deploy cutting-edge AI, affordably."We're proud to finally bring Arabic to Falcon, and prouder still that the best-performing large language model in the Arab world was built in the UAE," Faisal Al Bannai on Falcon H1, he said, "Today, AI leadership is not about scale for the sake of scale. It is about making powerful tools useful, usable, and universal. Falcon-H1 reflects our commitment to delivering AI that works for everyone – not just the few."Falcon-H1 continues to support European-origin languages, and for the first time, has scalable capability to support over 100 languages, thanks to a multilingual tokenizer trained on diverse datasets. Smarter, Simpler, and More InclusiveFalcon-H1 was developed to meet the growing global demand for efficient, flexible, and easy-to-use AI systems. Named 'H' for its hybrid architecture combining the strengths of Transformers and Mamba, it enables significantly faster inference speeds and lower memory consumption, while maintaining high performance across a range of benchmarks "We approached Falcon-H1 not just as a research milestone but as an engineering challenge: how to deliver exceptional efficiency without compromise," said Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII.'This model reflects our commitment to building technically rigorous systems with real-world utility. Falcon isn't just a model; it's a foundation that empowers researchers, developers, and innovators, especially in environments where resources are limited but ambitions are not," she Falcon-H1 family includes models of various sizes: 34B, 7B, 3B, 1.5B, 1.5B-deep, and 500M. These models offer users a wide range of performance-to-efficiency ratios, allowing developers to choose the most appropriate model for their deployment scenarios. While the smaller models enable deployment on constrained edge devices, the flagship 34B model outperforms like-models from Meta's LlaMa and Alibaba's Qwen on complex tasks."The Falcon-H1 series demonstrates how new architectures can unlock new opportunities in AI training while showcasing the potential of ultra-compact models," explained Dr. Hakim Hacid, Chief Researcher at the AI and Digital Science Research Center at TII."This fundamentally shifts what's possible at the smallest scale, enabling powerful AI on edge devices where privacy, efficiency, and low latency are critical. Our focus has been on reducing complexity without compromising capability," he model in the Falcon-H1 family surpasses other models that are twice its size, setting a new standard for performance-to-efficiency ratios. The models additionally excel in mathematics, reasoning, coding, long-context understanding, and multilingual tasks. International ImpactFalcon models are already powering real-world applications. In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Falcon has supported the development of AgriLLM, a solution that helps farmers make smarter decisions under challenging climate conditions. TII's Falcon ecosystem has been downloaded over 55 million times globally, and is widely regarded as the most powerful and consistently high-performing family of open AI models to emerge from the Middle East many AI models focus on narrow consumer use cases, TII has prioritised building foundational models that can be adapted to meet the demanding needs of industry, research, and public good, without compromising on accessibility. These models are designed to be applied across a variety of real-world scenarios, remaining accessible, resource-efficient, and adaptable to different environments. All Falcon models are open source and available on Hugging Face and under the TII Falcon License, an Apache 2.0-based license, which promotes responsible and ethical AI development. Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Al Etihad
22-05-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
UAE unveils most advanced Arabic-language model
22 May 2025 11:00 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)The UAE's Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), has launched two major artificial intelligence models—Falcon Arabic, the region's most advanced Arabic-language AI model, and Falcon H1, a high-performance, low-footprint model designed for use on everyday devices and in limited-resource by Faisal Al Bannai, Advisor to the UAE President and Secretary General of ATRC, during his keynote at the Make it in the Emirates event, the launches mark a strategic move to consolidate the UAE's leadership in sovereign and accessible AI Arabic is the first Arabic model in the Falcon series and is trained on high-quality native Arabic data, covering both Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects. Based on the Falcon 3-7B architecture, it is the best-performing Arabic language model available in the Middle East, topping the Open Arabic LLM Leaderboard. Remarkably, it matches or exceeds the performance of models up to ten times its size—proving that smart architecture can outperform raw scale.'We're proud to finally bring Arabic to Falcon,' said Al Bannai. 'And prouder still that the best-performing large language model in the Arab world was built in the UAE.'Falcon H1 introduces a new hybrid architecture that combines the strengths of Transformers and Mamba technologies. With model sizes ranging from 500 million to 34 billion parameters, it is designed for a wide spectrum of real-world applications—from edge devices to large-scale enterprise deployments. The flagship 34B version outperforms equivalent models from Meta's LLaMA and Alibaba's Qwen in both performance and efficiency.'Today, AI leadership is not about scale for the sake of scale. It's about making powerful tools useful, usable, and universal,' Al Bannai said. 'Falcon H1 reflects our commitment to delivering AI that works for everyone—not just the few.'Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII, noted: 'We approached Falcon H1 not just as a research milestone but as an engineering challenge. This model is built for real-world utility, especially in settings where resources are limited but ambitions are high.'All Falcon models are open source and available on Hugging Face and under a permissive license promoting ethical AI use. TII says Falcon models have been downloaded more than 55 million times worldwide. They are already being used in real-world applications, including AgriLLM—a tool developed in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help farmers tackle climate challenges. Falcon H1 supports more than 100 languages thanks to a newly designed multilingual tokenizer, broadening its global usability. It excels in tasks involving mathematics, reasoning, coding, long-context understanding, and multilingual comprehension. Make it in the Emirates Continue full coverage Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Web Release
22-05-2025
- Business
- Web Release
Middle East's Leading AI Powerhouse TII Launches Two New AI Models: Falcon Arabic – the First Arabic Model in the Falcon Series & Falcon-H1, a Best-in-Class High-Performance Model
The UAE's Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), today unveiled two major AI advancements: Falcon Arabic, the first-ever Arabic language model in the Falcon series – now the best-performing Arabic AI model in the region – and Falcon H1, a new model that redefines performance and portability through a new architectural design. In the small-to-medium size category of AI models (30 to 70 billion parameters), Falcon H1 outperforms comparable offerings from Meta's LLaMA and Alibaba's Qwen, enabling real-world AI on everyday devices and in resource-limited settings. The announcement was made during a keynote address by H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, Advisor to the UAE President and Secretary General of ATRC, at the Make it in the Emirates event. Built on top of Falcon 3-7B (7-billion-parameter), Falcon Arabic is one of the most advanced Arabic AI models developed to date. Trained on a high-quality native (non-translated) Arabic dataset spanning Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects, it captures the full linguistic diversity of the Arab world. According to the Open Arabic LLM Leaderboard benchmarks, Falcon Arabic outperforms all other regionally available Arabic language models, reinforcing its leadership in sovereign, multilingual AI. It ranks as the best-performing Arabic model in its class, matching the performance of models up to 10 times its size, proving that smart architecture can outperform sheer scale. Separately, the newly launched Falcon H1 model is designed to dramatically expand access to high-performance AI by reducing the computing power and technical expertise traditionally required to run advanced systems. The announcement builds on the success of TII's Falcon 3 series, which ranked among the top global AI models capable of operating on a single graphics processing unit (GPU), a major breakthrough that enabled developers, startups, and institutions without high-end infrastructure to deploy cutting-edge AI, affordably. 'We're proud to finally bring Arabic to Falcon, and prouder still that the best-performing large language model in the Arab world was built in the UAE,' said H.E. Faisal Al Bannai at the Make it in the Emirates event in Abu Dhabi. Commenting on Falcon H1, he said: 'Today, AI leadership is not about scale for the sake of scale. It is about making powerful tools useful, usable, and universal. Falcon-H1 reflects our commitment to delivering AI that works for everyone – not just the few.' Falcon-H1 continues to support European-origin languages and for the first time has scalable capability to support over 100 languages, thanks to a multilingual tokenizer trained on diverse datasets. Smarter, Simpler, and More Inclusive Falcon-H1 was developed to meet the growing global demand for efficient, flexible, and easy-to-use AI systems. Falcon-H1, named 'H' for its hybrid architecture combining the strengths of Transformers and Mamba, enables significantly faster inference speeds and lower memory consumption, while maintaining high performance across a range of benchmarks. 'We approached Falcon-H1 not just as a research milestone but as an engineering challenge: how to deliver exceptional efficiency without compromise,' said Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII. 'This model reflects our commitment to building technically rigorous systems with real-world utility. Falcon isn't just a model; it's a foundation that empowers researchers, developers, and innovators, especially in environments where resources are limited but ambitions are not.' The Falcon-H1 family includes models of various sizes: 34B, 7B, 3B, 1.5B, 1.5B-deep, and 500M. These models offer users a wide range of performance-to-efficiency ratios, allowing developers to choose the most appropriate model for their deployment scenarios. While the smaller models enable deployment on constrained edge devices, the flagship 34B model outperforms like-models from Meta's LlaMa and Alibaba's Qwen on complex tasks. 'The Falcon-H1 series demonstrates how new architectures can unlock new opportunities in AI training while showcasing the potential of ultra-compact models,' said Dr. Hakim Hacid, Chief Researcher at the AI and Digital Science Research Center at TII. 'This fundamentally shifts what's possible at the smallest scale, enabling powerful AI on edge devices where privacy, efficiency, and low latency are critical. Our focus has been on reducing complexity without compromising capability.' Each model in the Falcon-H1 family surpasses other models that are twice its size, setting a new standard for performance-to-efficiency ratios. The models additionally excel in mathematics, reasoning, coding, long-context understanding, and multilingual tasks. International Impact Falcon models are already powering real-world applications. In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Falcon has supported the development of AgriLLM, a solution that helps farmers make smarter decisions under challenging climate conditions. TII's Falcon ecosystem has been downloaded over 55 million times globally and is widely regarded as the most powerful and consistently high-performing family of open AI models to emerge from the Middle East region. While many AI models focus on narrow consumer use cases, TII has prioritized building foundational models that can be adapted to meet the demanding needs of industry, research, and public good, without compromising on accessibility. These models are designed to be applied across a variety of real-world scenarios, remaining accessible, resource-efficient, and adaptable to different environments. All Falcon models are open source and available on Hugging Face and under the TII Falcon License, an Apache 2.0-based license, which promotes responsible and ethical AI development.
Barnama
22-05-2025
- Business
- Barnama
Middle East's Leading AI Powerhouse TII Launches Two New AI Models: Falcon Arabic - the First Arabic Model in the Falcon Series & Falcon-H1, a Best-in-Class High-Performance Model
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, May 22 (Bernama) -- The UAE's Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), today unveiled two major AI advancements: Falcon Arabic, the first-ever Arabic language model in the Falcon series - now the best-performing Arabic AI model in the region - and Falcon-H1, a new model that redefines performance and portability through a new architectural design. In the small-to-medium size category of AI models (30 to 70 billion parameters), Falcon-H1 outperforms comparable offerings from Meta's LlaMA and Alibaba's Qwen, enabling real-world AI on everyday devices and in resource-limited settings. The announcement was made during a keynote address by H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, Advisor to the UAE President and Secretary General of ATRC, at the Make it in the Emirates event. Built on top of Falcon 3-7B (7-billion-parameter), Falcon Arabic is one of the most advanced Arabic AI models developed to date. Trained on a high-quality native (non-translated) Arabic dataset spanning Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects, it captures the full linguistic diversity of the Arab world. According to the Open Arabic LLM Leaderboard benchmarks, Falcon Arabic outperforms all other regionally available Arabic language models, reinforcing its leadership in sovereign, multilingual AI. It ranks as the best-performing Arabic model in its class, matching the performance of models up to 10 times its size, proving that smart architecture can outperform sheer scale.
LBCI
21-05-2025
- Business
- LBCI
UAE launches Arabic language AI model as Gulf race gathers pace
The United Arab Emirates launched a new Arabic language artificial intelligence (AI) model on Wednesday as the regional race to develop AI technologies accelerates in the Gulf. The UAE, a major oil exporter, has been spending billions of dollars in a push to become a global AI player, looking to leverage its strong relations with the United States to secure access to technology. Falcon Arabic, developed by Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), aims to capture the full linguistic diversity of the Arab world through a "high-quality native (non-translated) Arabic dataset," a statement said. It also matches the performance of models up to 10 times its size, it said. "Today, AI leadership is not about scale for the sake of scale. It is about making powerful tools useful, usable, and universal," Faisal Al Bannai, ATRC secretary general said in the statement. Reuters
