The Open-Source AI Summit Abu Dhabi, hosted by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), has officially kicked off at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island with over 300 international AI experts in attendance. The summit, which runs today and tomorrow, is bringing critical discussions to the forefront about the future of AI, focusing on topics like ethical AI ownership, sustainable computing, and the growing debate between open- and closed-source AI models.
H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council and Adviser to the UAE President, opened the summit with a powerful statement about AI models: “You can either leverage a closed-source AI model, which is controlled by a company, or an open-source model that grows within the community, fostering innovation. If AI is to be a part of our society, we need to decide who controls it.” He also highlighted TII’s contribution to the world with the opening of Falcon AI models.
Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII, further emphasized the summit’s significance, calling it a defining moment for global AI discourse. She stated that open-source models like Falcon unite scientists and innovators to drive technological advancements that can catalyze global change. This collaboration is expected to have a significant impact, particularly through TII’s work with the Falcon Foundation.
The summit agenda featured discussions from renowned speakers, including Dr. Belgacem Haba, Vice President of Adeia Corporation, who addressed the challenges AI poses in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Prof. Philip Torr from Oxford University discussed the issue of AI ownership and regulation, advocating for the long-term benefits of open-source AI.
Dr. Hakim Hacid, Chief Researcher at TII’s AI Research Center, noted that while open-source AI is the way forward, it presents challenges regarding control, policy, compute power, and hardware that require global collaboration to address. This is why TII has brought together so many international experts to explore solutions.
The summit continues with talks by leaders such as Dr. Natalia Vassilieva of Cerebras Systems, Dr. June Paik of FuriosaAI, Dr. Armand Joulin of Google DeepMind, and Dr. Michal Valko of Meta, who will cover topics such as AI openness, sustainable AI computing, and creating more compact large language models (LLMs).
The event will culminate in a panel discussion led by TII about their vision for the future of open-source AI.
TII’s Falcon AI LLM series has been internationally recognized, beginning with the launch of Falcon 40B, the UAE’s first open-source LLM, in May 2023. Subsequent models have ranked among the top globally, and a new Falcon model is expected by the end of 2024.
