MBZUAI launches Institute of Foundation Models, establishes Silicon Valley AI Lab

Zawya

23-05-2025

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has announced the launch of its Institute of Foundation Models (IFM). The IFM is a multi-site initiative consisting of a newly established Silicon Valley Lab in Sunnyvale, CA, combined with previously announced lab facilities in Paris and Abu Dhabi.
The launch event, taking place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, establishes the third node in its global research network. This strategic expansion connects the university with California's vibrant ecosystem of AI researchers, startups, and tech companies.
For the UAE and MBZUAI, this move represents another strategic step in the country's long-term economic diversification plan. By investing in cutting-edge technologies like advanced AI foundation models, the UAE continues to build knowledge-based sectors to support its long-term economic and social transformation efforts.
'The launch of the IFM represents a major step forward for the collaboration and global development of frontier-class AI foundation models,' said Professor Eric Xing, President and University Professor of MBZUAI. 'Our expansion into Silicon Valley provides a critical footprint to grow our presence in one of the most vibrant AI ecosystems in the world. We're creating pathways for knowledge exchange with leading institutions and accessing a talent pool that understands how to scale research into real-world applications."
The launch event drew representatives from the world's leading AI companies and academic institutions, highlighting the growing interest in MBZUAI's global approach to foundation model research.
At the heart of MBZUAI's demonstrations was PAN, a world model capable of infinite simulations of diverse realities ranging from basic physical interactions to complex agent scenarios.
Unlike previous systems focused primarily on generating text, audio, or images, PAN predicts comprehensive world states by integrating multimodal inputs like language, video, spatial data, and physical actions. This enables advanced reasoning, strategic planning, and nuanced decision-making for applications from autonomous driving to robotics.
PAN's innovative hierarchical architecture supports multi-level reasoning and real-time interaction within simulations, maintaining high accuracy over extended scenarios. Its companion, PAN-Agent, showcases its utility in multimodal reasoning tasks, such as mathematics and coding, within dynamic simulated environments.
The IFM lab is also advancing two flagship AI systems demonstrating our commitment to further advance frontier-class foundation models: K2 and JAIS.
A soon to be released update to K2-65B will focus on delivering breakthrough reasoning capabilities with sustainable performance. With advanced reasoning, K2 will further enhance its capabilities in mathematical problem-solving, code generation, and logical analysis while requiring fewer computational resources than many comparable models.
JAIS stands as the world's most advanced Arabic large language model. This open-sourced system addresses the underrepresentation of non-English languages in AI, covering Modern Standard Arabic, regional dialects, Hindi, and other languages while maintaining cultural authenticity.
At the IFM, JAIS will continue to expand in capability with increased language support and add more context to preserve and promote the cultures it supports.
MBZUAI has established one of the industry's most transparent approaches to AI development, open-sourcing not just models but entire development processes—positioning IFM as a leader in building openly. The LLM360 initiative provides researchers with complete materials including training code, datasets, and model checkpoints. This openness is balanced with safeguards including international advisory boards and peer review processes that maintain research integrity.
The IFM's structure includes dedicated teams focused on model architecture, training methods, evaluation frameworks, and safety systems—combining the agility of a startup with the resources of an established research institution.
Through partnerships with industry leaders, academic institutions, and public organizations, IFM Is building a framework to translate research into practical applications to advance the field of AI globally.