In 2024, the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) of the United Arab Emirates introduced two significant artificial intelligence models in the Falcon series, redefining the development of large language models (LLMs). The Falcon 2, launched in May, and the Falcon 3, released in December, reflect the UAE’s commitment to democratising AI. Their lightweight infrastructure sets these models apart, allowing them to run efficiently even on laptops—an innovation that distinguishes them from conventional AI systems.
The Falcon 2 was released in two variants: the Falcon 11B and the Falcon 2 11B VLM. The base model features 11 billion parameters trained on 5.5 trillion tokens, while the VLM variant includes image-to-text transformation capabilities. It supports multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. The Falcon 3 furthers this, offering enhanced reasoning abilities and advanced fine-tuning options. From January 2025, it will be expanded with multimodal functionalities and voice mode, further broadening its applications.
The UAE’s AI development program is part of a comprehensive national strategy to establish the country as a global AI leader by 2031 under the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031. The Technology Innovation Institute’s (TII) open-source approach has significantly bolstered the nation’s AI reputation and facilitated collaboration with developing countries. In addition, the UAE has established the world’s first Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, further cementing its leadership in technological innovation.
Sources:
PYMNTS
Cody Combs
