UAE based tech conglomerate G42’s AI subsidiary, Inception, has released a large language model (LLM) trained on a database over 395 billion tokens of Arabic and English.
The LLM named Jais, after UAE’s highest peak, has been described as a “significant milestone” for the inclusion of Arabic in the AI world.
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Developed in Abu Dhabi, G42 claims its Jais LLM will enable over 400 million Arabic speakers the chance to use generative AI. Jais was also released open source to encourage other underrepresented languages in AI to be able to develop their own LLMs.
Inception’s CEO Andrew Jackson has described the release as a “new standard” for AI development and expansion in the Middle East.
The company claims that Jais currently outperforms existing Arabic LLMs, as well as being competitive with English LLMs despite having been trained on less English data.
Jackson promises that the release of Jais will ensure that the Arabic language “finds its voice within the AI landscape.”
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By GlobalDataPrevious academic study on the training data of LLMs has suggested a tendency for the software to respond to prompts more accurately in English. However, this was recently rocked by Meta’s release of SeamlessM4T, an AI translation model that it claims can translate over 100 languages.
In GlobalData’s 2023 macroeconomic review of UAE, it emphasised the technological lead that the country had.
Both the broadband and mobile penetration rate of the UAE were the highest recorded of any country in the Middle East and North Africa according to GlobalData research. Additionally, the analyst also pointed to its smart city and open data initiatives as major catalysts for growth in tech.
Whilst GlobalData did acknowledge that UAE’s scientific outputs appeared to lag behind peers such as Iran or Saudi Arabia, Jais’ development appears to have promoted significant research into AI.
Alongside the release of Jais, Inception also created an academic partnership with universities both in UAE and around the globe.
“Developing such a high-calibre Arabic LLM demanded cutting edge AI research,” explained university professor at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) Eric Xing, “Thanks to our research and partnerships with Inception and other top regional and global organisations, MBZUAI will continue pioneering LLMs that are efficient, effective and accurate.”
Several organisations such as UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and First Abu Dhabi Bank will begin using Jais in their operations.
