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MBZUAI
A research university in Abu Dhabi devoted entirely to artificial intelligence, and the parent of the Institute of Foundation Models.
MBZUAI was founded in 2019 and took its first graduate students in 2021, making it one of the first universities anywhere built specifically around AI rather than adding it to an existing computer science department. It has close to a thousand students from more than fifty countries and opened a selective undergraduate programme in 2025.
It matters in AI news mainly through its research arm, the Institute of Foundation Models, which released the K2 Horizon models. The university is a visible piece of the United Arab Emirates’ effort to become a serious player in AI research rather than only a buyer of it.
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