United Arab Emirates develops the most advanced artificial intelligence in the world
When discussing artificial intelligence (AI), we often immediately think of US tech giants as Google is OpenAI. However, other regions are also emerging as key players in the field. One of these is the United Arab Emirates, a nation that recently launched an AI model that is said to be the most advanced in the Arab world. Called Jais, the model is open-source and available to the hundreds of millions of Arabic speakers around the world.
Jais is the result of a partnership between G42, an AI company with ties to Abu Dhabi's ruling family, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence Abu Dhabi (Mbzuai), and Cerebras, a California-based company specializing in AI.
La Sfida Tecnologica Globale: Corsa ai Componenti
The importance of this initiative is made even clearer in the context of global competition for technological resources. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, for example, have acquired thousands of high-performance Nvidia chips to power their AI projects. This is part of a global race to secure the hardware components needed to push the AI sector forward.
In the past, the UAE had already made significant strides in the field of AI, developing an open-source language model called Falcon. This model had been created with the help of hundreds of Nvidia chips and represented one of the most ambitious technological efforts in the region.
Pioneers and Visions: G42 and Global Competition
According to Andrew Jackson, CEO of Inception, G42's AI applied research unit, the UAE is trying to be a pioneer in the sector. “We look at this as a global race,” Jackson says. Most existing academic programs and AI models focus on English, despite Arabic being one of the most spoken languages in the world. The goal is therefore to provide the Arab community with a highly efficient and accurate large language model (LLM).
The Importance of Cultural Context: Jais as a Regional Model
One of Jais' key advantages is his understanding of the cultural context of the Gulf region. Unlike other global models that can be ineffective when dealing with languages other than English, Jais was specifically designed to be accurate and reliable in generating Arabic text. Before its launch, the model was rigorously tested to ensure that it did not generate harmful, offensive or culturally inappropriate content.
Collaboration and Challenges: G42 and the Launch Partners
The creation of Jais was a collective undertaking. G42 has partnered with several other Abu Dhabi entities, including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Mubadala asset fund and Etihad Airways. One of the biggest challenges has been the paucity of high-quality Arabic language data available online. To overcome this obstacle, Jais uses a mix of Modern Standard Arabic and various regional dialects, drawing from sources such as media and social media.
In conclusion, the launch of Jais represents a significant step in the global diversification of the AI industry. With a focus on cultural and linguistic context, the UAE is showing that artificial intelligence is truly a global challenge, and not just the prerogative of Western technological powers.
