The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), which functions as the applied research division of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), has unveiled a suite of three new artificial intelligence models. This launch marks a significant effort to integrate local language and cultural nuances into the global AI landscape, providing researchers and developers with sophisticated tools for text, speech, and document processing.
The flagship model, Falcon-Emirati, is a 7-billion-parameter language model engineered specifically for the Emirati Arabic dialect. By incorporating native Emirati content alongside Modern Standard Arabic resources and specialized synthetic data, the model effectively captures the unique vocabulary, idioms, and cultural context of the region. On the Alyah benchmark—which tests everyday language, poetry, and heritage knowledge—Falcon-Emirati achieved a score of 84.83 percent, outperforming all other multilingual and Arabic open-source models included in the assessment.
Complementing the text model is Falcon-ASR, an Automatic Speech Recognition system. Despite its compact 1.6-billion-parameter architecture, it demonstrated superior accuracy in performance tests. It successfully outperformed significantly larger systems, including a 30-billion-parameter multimodal model, when processing Emirati speech. This tool is capable of transcribing various languages—including Modern Standard Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese—into written text, while also timestamping words within audio files to assist in creating searchable archives and precise subtitling.
The third addition is Falcon-OCR-Arabic, a lightweight optical character recognition model. It is designed to extract text and structured data from documents and images, handling complex elements such as mathematical formulas and tables. This capability is expected to streamline tasks like document digitization and automated information retrieval across the region.
Faisal Al Bannai, Advisor to the UAE President for Strategic Research and Advanced Technology Affairs and Secretary-General of ATRC, emphasized that building technology that deeply understands the local population is a point of national pride. He noted that developing these sovereign capabilities within the UAE provides the freedom to set regional priorities and drive future innovation.
Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII, highlighted the necessity of sovereign AI reflecting the realities of daily life. She stated that Falcon-Emirati and Falcon-ASR were created to ensure that future AI systems not only process standard Arabic but truly grasp how communities in the UAE communicate. By integrating these tools, the institute aims to support various practical applications, including multilingual customer service, accessibility tools, and digital voice-enabled services.
Dr. Hakim Hacid, Chief Researcher at TII’s Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research Centre, added that these models address existing gaps in the Arabic AI landscape. He explained that by focusing on specialized language, speech, and document understanding, the TII is empowering developers to build applications that honor local language and culture while pushing the technical boundaries of what is possible for Arabic AI.
The new models represent a strategic expansion of TII’s sovereign AI portfolio. As the technology moves toward widespread implementation via the Falcon Chat platform, it seeks to foster a more natural interface between users and intelligent systems, ultimately bridging the gap between global technological trends and the specific linguistic requirements of the Arab world.