- On September 7, 2025, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan officially endorsed K2 Think, the world’s most advanced open-source reasoning model.
- The event coincided with the birthday of the late President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to honor his role in laying the foundation for technology, science, and innovation in the UAE.
- Reasoning is considered the “next frontier” of AI, moving beyond recognition, generation, or processing, towards deep thinking capabilities, solving complex problems, and unlocking scientific and technological breakthroughs for humanity.
- K2 Think was developed by the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and technology group G42, with contributions from the Institute of Foundation Models (IFM).
- Key features:
- “Compact but smart” → performance on par with or exceeding models many times its size.
- Optimized for efficiency, flexibility, and easier practical application.
- Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Chairman of the AI and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), stated that K2 Think is a strategic step that helps the UAE strengthen its high-tech and AI position globally, reflecting the national vision for a future based on knowledge and innovation.
- The project is hailed as a model of effective public-private partnership, combining world-class academic research, advanced engineering, and modern infrastructure.
- K2 Think is not just an AI model, but also a powerful statement of the UAE’s ambition to lead a new era of artificial intelligence based on open innovation and international collaboration.
📌 The UAE President has endorsed K2 Think, the world’s most advanced open-source reasoning model, developed by MBZUAI and G42. The launch of K2 Think marks a major milestone for the UAE on the global AI map. The model achieves superior performance in a compact form. This is a testament to the national strategy: combining innovation, research, and public-private partnerships to transform the UAE into a pioneering tech and AI hub, leading the future of reasoning artificial intelligence.
