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Abu Dhabi Launches K2 Think, a Low-Cost Model Matching Global AI Performance

Prime Highlights: 

  • Abu Dhabi’s MBZUAI has launched K2 Think, a low-cost model that can perform advanced reasoning tasks at the level of global leaders like OpenAI and DeepSeek. 
  • The model is designed to help solve scientific and mathematical problems much faster, potentially saving years of work for researchers. 

Key Facts: 

  • K2 Think is built on Alibaba’s open-source Qwen 2.5 and tested on Cerebras hardware, with support from UAE firm G42. 
  • At just 32 billion parameters, it is significantly smaller than competing models like DeepSeek’s R1, yet delivers comparable performance on benchmarks in math, coding, and science. 

Key Background: 

Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University (MBZUAI) has introduced K2 Think, a new low-cost model made to compete with top global systems like OpenAI and DeepSeek. Even though it is much smaller, it claims to perform just as well in advanced reasoning tasks. 

At just 32 billion parameters, K2 Think is considerably smaller than DeepSeek’s R1, which has 671 billion parameters, yet it performs at a similar level on benchmarks covering math, coding, and science, including AIME24, AIME25, HMMT25, OMNI-Math-HARD, LiveCodeBenchv5, and GPQA-Diamond. The model was built using Alibaba’s open-source Qwen 2.5 and tested on hardware from chipmaker Cerebras, with help from the UAE technology firm G42. 

Richard Morton, Managing Director at MBZUAI, emphasized the efficiency of the system: “What we’re discovering is that you can do a lot more with less,” he said, highlighting the model’s ability to deliver advanced reasoning without the enormous resources typically required by large AI models. 

K2 Think uses a combination of long chain-of-thought supervised fine-tuning and test-time scaling, methods that allow step-by-step reasoning and optimized performance during inferencing. According to Hector Liu, Director of MBZUAI’s Institute of Foundation Models, the success of K2 Think comes from treating it as a system rather than just a model, with ongoing optimization after deployment. 

The model does not resemble a chatbot such as ChatGPT, but it can solve scientific and math problems within seconds, instead of letting a team of experts spend years on the same problem. 

UAE is striving to be ahead in technology, to stop depending on oil, and to enhance its status in the world. K2 Think shows the country is becoming a key player in advanced research, competing with the United States and China. 

By combining efficiency, innovation, and targeted applications, K2 Think demonstrates how AI development in the UAE is gaining momentum, expanding access to advanced technologies, and setting the stage for future breakthroughs in science and technology. 

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