Abu Dhabi AI institute releases fully open-source models with training data, code

By Leo Marchandon

Sept ‌3 (Reuters) - Abu ​Dhabi-based ​research institute IFM on Thursday released six artificial intelligence models together with the data ‌and methods used to build them, challenging ⁠an industry trend toward increasingly secretive AI development.

The K2 Horizon ‌release includes model weights, ‌training data, code, methodologies and intermediate checkpoints, allowing researchers to retrace the models' development process and ​reproduce results, IFM founder Eric Xing told Reuters.

The move goes beyond the "open-weight" approach used by ⁠some Chinese developers, which make models available for download but provide limited ​insight into how they were built, and contrasts with the more closed development practices ​of companies such as OpenAI ‌and Anthropic, which neither release their models for download nor disclose the data ⁠and techniques behind them.

"Our goal with this release is to establish a reference point for what a ⁠truly open model release can look like," Xing said.

He said the ​release was also intended to show policymakers, regulators and public-interest advocates that "openness and competitive performance are not mutually exclusive."

The ‌launch forms part of the UAE's push to establish itself as a global ‌AI hub.

The model family ranges from one designed ⁠for smartwatches and other ‌constrained devices to ​a 375-billion-parameter system for enterprise deployments.

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; Editing by Matt ‌Scuffham)

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