The Gulf in the Bay: UAE opens new AI research center in San Francisco

The United Arab Emirates is rapidly accelerating its artificial intelligence ambitions through substantial investments in cutting-edge technology and strategic global positioning. Today’s launch of new AI models and a Silicon Valley research center by the UAE’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) represents a significant move to establish the country as a major player in the global AI landscape, particularly as geopolitical competition in technology intensifies between the US and China.

The big picture: The UAE has launched an AI world model, an agent system, two large language models, and a new Silicon Valley research center as part of its aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence.

• MBZUAI unveiled PAN, a world model designed to create physically realistic simulations for testing AI agents in virtual environments.
• The announcement was made by Eric Xing, MBZUAI’s president and professor, at California’s Computer History Museum.

Key details: The new AI offerings include specialized tools for simulation, reasoning, and Arabic language processing.

• PAN-Agent, an experimental AI system trained to perform reasoning tasks within the PAN world model, will allow researchers to test AI in simulated real-world scenarios including self-driving cars and drone navigation.
• K2, a 65-billion parameter large language model optimized for reasoning tasks, reportedly required 35 percent less compute power than Meta’s comparable Llama 2 model.
• Jais, described as “the world’s most advanced Arabic-language LLM,” was also unveiled at the event.

Strategic implications: The UAE’s AI investments align with recent diplomatic efforts between the US and Middle Eastern nations.

• President Trump recently traveled to the Middle East to broker technology deals involving US companies and Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar.
• Trump announced that several US companies would partner with the UAE to build “the largest AI data center cluster outside of America,” with safeguards to prevent the technology from being used by China.

Why this matters: World models like PAN are considered crucial for developing more advanced AI systems including virtual assistants and robots that can operate in unfamiliar environments.

• Google’s AI lead Demis Hassabis recently emphasized the importance of world modeling in the company’s AI strategy.
• The UAE’s new Silicon Valley center will help the nation tap into the world’s most concentrated source of AI knowledge and talent.

Behind the numbers: The UAE’s AI push is being guided by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al Nahyan, the country’s national security adviser and brother of the president.

• MBZUAI trained its K2 model using 80 A100 chips via Nvidia’s DGX Cloud, highlighting the critical role of specialized hardware in advanced AI development.