UAE's K2 Think: A New Open-Source Model Challenging US and China's AI Hegemony

G42, an Emirati AI company, in collaboration with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, unveiled K2 Think, an open-source AI model that rivals OpenAI's ChatGPT and China's DeepSeek in standard benchmark tests. With only 32 billion parameters, K2 Think outperforms flagship reasoning models 20 times larger and leads all open-source models in math performance. The UAE's massive investment in AI aims for economic diversification, reducing oil dependence, and actively participating in the global AI race, mirroring similar moves by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. However, the UAE's partnership with the US on AI data centers faces national security scrutiny.