Abu Dhabi-based research institute IFM on Thursday released six artificial intelligence models under the K2 Horizon initiative, providing full development data including model weights, training data, code, methodologies and intermediate checkpoints.
The release marks a departure from prevailing industry practices. Unlike Chinese developers that employ an 'open-weight' approach—allowing model downloads but withholding construction details—IFM’s K2 Horizon package enables researchers to retrace and reproduce the models’ development process. This contrasts with OpenAI and Anthropic, which do not provide downloadable models or share underlying data and techniques.
Founder of IFM Eric Xing stated the initiative aims to establish a reference point for transparency in model releases. 'Our goal with this release is to establish a reference point for what a truly open model release can look like,' Xing said. He added that the effort seeks to demonstrate to policymakers, regulators and public-interest advocates that 'openness and competitive performance are not mutually exclusive.'
The UAE has positioned itself as a global AI hub, with IFM’s release underscoring the country’s push to advance open research practices in artificial intelligence.
