A university that also develops models
MBZUAI is an AI university in Abu Dhabi with teaching and research programs. Its October 16, 2019 establishment announcement opened applications and described a new institution; its first student cohort arrived later, in 2021. Announcement of the university and the start of teaching are separate milestones. [1][2]
Its Institute of Foundation Models develops language models as well as research methods. The university announced the six-model K2 Horizon family in September 2026, and the 32B model card provides downloadable weights and links public code and data. This establishes a concrete model-development role alongside academic education. [3][4]
The 32B checkpoint is listed under Apache 2.0, while its artifact inventory still marks the technical report as in progress. Public weights therefore do not mean every promised document is available, and the university's performance and scale superlatives are not treated here as independently validated results. [4][3]
Sources
- About us
Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence · retrieved Oct 23, 2026
- Abu Dhabi announces establishment of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence
Emirates News Agency - WAM · Oct 16, 2019
- MBZUAI’s Institute of Foundation Models launches K2 Horizon, the world’s largest fully open AI models in history
Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence · Sep 3, 2026
- IFM/K2-Horizon-32B
Institute of Foundation Models · retrieved Oct 24, 2026