UAE’s Technology Innovation Institute Launches ‘Falcon Foundation’ to Champion Open-sourcing of Generative AI Models

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Foundation to drive knowledge sharing, accelerate democratization of AI

TII commits US$300 million for future project funding

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), a leading global scientific research center and the applied research pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), today announced the launch of the ‘Falcon Foundation’. The non-profit Falcon Foundation is dedicated to advancing the development of open-source Generative AI models and to building sustainable ecosystems around open-source projects that accelerate technology development. As a founding member, TII is committing to provide US$300 million to fund these projects.

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The launch of the Falcon Foundation took place at the prestigious World Governments Summit (WGS) 2024 and marks a critical juncture in convening stakeholder collaboration to establish transparent governance models and encourage knowledge exchange as AI continues to chart a relentless growth path.

Commencing with TII’s powerful homegrown Falcon AI models, the Foundation will convene stakeholders, developers, academia, and industry, as well as individuals, and will help realize the power of cooperative decision-making among the contributors. It will accelerate the democratization of AI with the help of notable Falcon Foundation Ambassadors – eminent AI professors in universities around the world, as well as key industry players in the field of AI.

The Foundation is to support the customization of the Falcon models to address specific industries or sectors. By enabling open computing resources for the continued research and development of Falcon AI, the Foundation will provide a robust ecosystem to ensure the adaptability of the models across a broad spectrum of applications and contexts.

Remarking on the announcement, H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General of ATRC, said: “In a world where AI continues to advance at an…