Dubai

The United Arab Emirates introduced a new Arabic Artificial Intelligence (AI) model on Wednesday, reflecting the intensified competition to advance AI technology in the Gulf region.

As a major oil exporter, the UAE has invested heavily in establishing itself as a global player in AI, leveraging its close ties with the US to access essential technology.

During a recent visit, US President Donald Trump mentioned that AI contracts with the UAE are paving the way for access to advanced AI semiconductors from American firms.

Developed by the Advanced Technical Research Council (ATRC), the Falcon Arabic model aims to represent the diverse linguistic landscape of the Arab world using high-quality native (untranslated) Arabic datasets. It claims to perform on par with models that can be ten times larger.

Faisal Al Bannai commented, “Today, AI leadership isn’t just about scale. It’s about creating powerful tools that are useful, user-friendly, and universal.”

The ATRC has also launched the Falcon H1 model, which it asserts is superior to competitors from Meta and Alibaba by lowering the computational power and technical know-how needed to operate sophisticated systems.

AI was a prominent topic during Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, where the nation is positioning itself as a future central hub for AI developments outside the US.

The Kingdom recently established a new company dedicated to developing and managing AI technology and infrastructure.