The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and G42 have jointly unveiled K2 Think, a groundbreaking open-source system for advanced AI reasoning. With only 32 billion parameters, K2 Think delivers performance comparable to models more than 20 times larger, reshaping the paradigm from “bigger is better” to “smarter is better.”
UAE’s Push for Global AI Leadership
K2 Think is more than a technical breakthrough—it reflects Abu Dhabi’s ambition to establish itself as a hub for advanced artificial intelligence. Built at the Institute of Foundation Models at MBZUAI, the system positions the UAE as a leader in open-source AI innovation, showcasing the impact of public-private collaboration in driving transformative technologies.
Compact Yet Powerful
K2 Think introduces a six-pillar architecture, combining supervised learning with long reflection chains, reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards, and agentic planning to decompose complex problems. Test-time scaling further enhances adaptability, while integration with Cerebras’ wafer-scale computing platform enables unmatched inference speeds of up to 2,000 tokens per second.
Unlike most “open” AI models that only share weights, K2 Think offers complete transparency—from training data and weights to deployment code—making it one of the most accessible and replicable AI systems in the world.
Economic and Industry Impact
K2 Think ranks among the world’s leading reasoning systems, outperforming in AIME ‘24/’25, HMMT ‘25, and OMNI-Math-HARD benchmarks. Its parameter efficiency makes it a cost-effective choice for researchers and enterprises alike, lowering barriers to adoption while advancing global AI accessibility.
By proving that smaller models can match the reasoning power of massive systems, K2 Think signals the next wave of AI efficiency-driven innovation, with potential applications across science, business, and engineering.
Voices from Leadership
His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of MBZUAI’s Board of Trustees, highlighted:
“The new global benchmark set by K2 Think underscores the pioneering excellence of MBZUAI’s Foundation Model Institute initiative … enabling groundbreaking, practical, and scalable technical innovations with transformative global impact.”
Peng Xiao, G42 Group CEO, added:
“K2 Think has shifted the AI reasoning paradigm from ‘bigger is better’ to ‘smarter is better’ … This milestone marks the beginning of the next wave of AI innovation.”
Source
This article is based on the official press release issued by MBZUAI on September 10, 2025.
