The United Arab Emirates has announced the introduction of Falcon Arabic, a new Arabic-language artificial intelligence model, as part of its ambitious push to lead global AI innovations. The model, created by Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), is intended to properly reflect the richness and complexity of the Arabic language by employing a wholly local, non-translated dataset.
This strategic move comes as the Gulf region steps up efforts to establish itself as a prominent participant in the AI field. The UAE, a major oil exporter, is investing billions of dollars to improve its technological edge, taking advantage of strong diplomatic and business connections with the United States to gain access to cutting-edge technologies. During a recent visit, US President Donald Trump emphasised an AI agreement that might allow the UAE to purchase advanced AI semiconductors from American companies, a significant step forward.
Falcon Arabic is believed to perform similarly to AI models up to ten times larger in size. ATRC also presented Falcon H1, an innovation that is said to outperform products from Meta and Alibaba by reducing both computing load and the skill required to operate such systems.
