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

IFM launched six AI models featuring new techniques, data training, and coding tools for researchers

 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.

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"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.