LONDON: Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute has doubled down on the generative artificial intelligence trend with the launch of its large language model Falcon 180B.
The Falcon 180B is an evolution of the government-backed research center’s flagship model Falcon 40B which was launched earlier this year and is expected to boost generative AI capabilities in the region.
Faisal Al-Bannai, secretary-general of the Advanced Technology Research Council, pointed out the positive impact of Falcon on the AI landscape and noted that its “transformative power” was “within everyone’s reach.”
He said: “We are committed to democratizing access to advanced AI, as our privacy and the potential impact of AI on humanity should not be controlled by a select few.
“While we may not have all the answers, our resolve remains unwavering; to collaborate and contribute to the open-source community, ensuring that the benefits of AI are shared by all.”
Large language models are AI systems that can generate human-like text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer questions in an informative way.
They are trained on huge datasets of text and code, and can be used for a variety of purposes, such as research, commercial applications, and education.
In a statement, the Emirati institute said that Falcon 180B, which will be offered as an open access model for research and commercial purposes, would strengthen the UAE’s dominance in AI and help to develop new apps for language technology.
Its developers claim the model has surpassed competitors such as Meta’s LLaMA 2 in various benchmarks, including reasoning, coding, proficiency, and knowledge tests, and ranks just behind OpenAI’s latest GPT-4 and on par with the performance of Google’s PaLM 2, the model powering Bard.
With more than 12 million developers adopting and deploying the first release of Falcon, the upgrade is being tipped to become the premier model for various domains, from chatbots to code generation, and beyond.
Falcon 180B is compatible with languages including English, German, Spanish, and French, with limited capabilities in Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Romanian, Czech, and Swedish.
Dr. Ebtesam Almazrouei, executive director and acting chief researcher of the AI Cross-Center Unit at the TII, said: “The launch of Falcon 180B exemplifies our dedication to advancing the frontiers of AI, and we are thrilled to share its limitless potential with the world.
“As we delve into frontiers of science and technology, our vision extends far beyond innovation; it’s about nurturing a profound connection to address global challenges through collaborative breakthroughs.”
