In the context of rapid development in global artificial intelligence technology, the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi recently unveiled two new AI large language models at the "Made in UAE" conference: Falcon Arabic and Falcon H1. These models are designed to cater specifically to Arabic-speaking environments and low-computing-power application requirements, aiming to provide more customized AI solutions for the local market.
The Falcon series is named after the "falcon," with its first models released in 2023, quickly gaining attention within the open-source community. However, over time, the popularity of Falcon has waned, and the number of users has gradually decreased. Therefore, the release of these new models can be seen as a significant attempt by TII to break through in the Arabic language domain and lightweight AI direction.
Falcon Arabic is the first large language model dedicated to the Arabic language, built on the Falcon3-7B architecture. It is trained on modern standard Arabic as well as multiple regional dialects, with the ability to handle extremely long contexts and support text inputs of up to 32K tokens. This feature makes Falcon Arabic particularly outstanding in complex dialogue and text processing tasks.
Meanwhile, Falcon H1 focuses on improving the model's versatility and adaptability to low-computing-power environments. The model offers multiple versions ranging from 500M to 34B parameters to meet different user needs. TII emphasizes that Falcon H1 aims to lower the entry barrier, providing feasible AI solutions for scenarios with limited computing power, striving to achieve a good balance between computational efficiency and flexibility.
Besides launching these two new models, the UAE is also actively expanding its influence in the global AI field, including infrastructure construction and international technical cooperation. Recently, OpenAI has reached a partnership with G42 of Abu Dhabi, planning to build an AI data center with a capacity of 5 gigawatts in Abu Dhabi. Additionally, the UAE investment company MGX is collaborating with NVIDIA and French enterprises to construct a large AI base in Europe.
With these new initiatives underway, the UAE is fully committed to advancing AI technology, striving to secure a place in global competition.