Microsoft has unveiled Phi-3-mini, an innovative, small language model for businesses seeking cost-effective AI solutions. This model excels at content creation and social media post generation, all while requiring less data compared to traditional AI models.Despite its compact size, Phi-3-mini punches above its weight. Microsoft claims it outperforms models double its size on various benchmarks assessing language, coding, and mathematical capabilities.Phi-3-mini caters specifically to businesses with limited resources. Its focus on simpler tasks like document summarization and market research trend extraction makes it a practical and efficient solution.Microsoft is making Phi-3-mini readily available across several platforms. Users can find it on the Azure AI model catalog (Microsoft's cloud service platform), the machine learning model platform Hugging Face, and Ollama (a framework for running models locally).This launch comes on the heels of Microsoft's recent $1.5 billion investment in UAE-based AI firm G42. Additionally, their partnership with French startup Mistral AI makes their models available through Azure.

 G42, the leading UAE-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology holding company, and Microsoft today announced a $1.5 billion strategic investment by Microsoft in G42. The investment will strengthen the two companies' collaboration on bringing the latest Microsoft AI technologies and skilling initiatives to the UAE and other countries around the world. As part of this expanded partnership Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, will join the G42 Board of Directors. This expanded collaboration will empower organizations of all sizes in new markets to harness the benefits of AI and the cloud while ensuring they are adopting AI that adheres to world-leading standards in safety and security.Building on the two organizations' long-standing collaboration in AI and digital transformation initiatives, Microsoft's investment deepens the reciprocal commitment to this strategic partnership. G42 will run its AI applications and services on Microsoft Azure and partner to deliver advanced AI solutions to global public sector clients and large enterprises. G42 and Microsoft will also work together to bring advanced AI and digital infrastructure to countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, providing these nations with equitable access to services to address important governmental and business concerns while ensuring the highest standards of security and privacy.  H.H. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of G42, said: "Microsoft's investment in G42 marks a pivotal moment in our company's journey of growth and innovation, signifying a strategic alignment of vision and execution between the two organizations. This partnership is a testament to the shared values and aspirations for progress, fostering greater cooperation and synergy globally." The partnership will also support the development of a skilled and diverse AI workforce and talent pool that will drive innovation and competitiveness for the UAE and broader region with the investment of $1B in a development fund for developers. "Our two companies will work together not only in the UAE, but to bring AI and digital infrastructure and services to underserved nations," said Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President. "We will combine world-class technology with world-leading standards for safe, trusted, and responsible AI, in close coordination with the governments of both the UAE and the United States."  The commercial partnership is backed by assurances to both governments through a first of its kind agreement to apply world-class best practices to ensure the secure, trusted, and responsible development and deployment of AI. Microsoft and G42 will work closely and elevate the security and compliance framework of their joint international infrastructure. Both companies will move forward with a commitment to comply with US and international trade, security, responsible AI, and business integrity laws and regulations. The work on these topics is governed by a detailed Intergovernmental Assurance Agreement (IGAA) between G42 and Microsoft that was developed in close consultation with both the UAE and US governments. Peng Xiao, Group Chief Executive Officer of G42, said: "Through Microsoft's strategic investment, we are advancing our mission to deliver cutting-edge AI technologies at scale. This partnership significantly enhances our international market presence, combining G42's unique AI capabilities with Microsoft's robust global infrastructure. Together, we are not only expanding our operational horizons but also setting new industry standards for innovation." Samer Abu-Ltaif, Microsoft Corporate Vice President and President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, added: "Our investment in G42 stands as a testament to the thriving and dynamic tech landscape in the UAE and the broader region. This strategic partnership is well-positioned to ignite opportunities for our customers and partners, accelerate innovation, and fuel economic growth. With G42, we will introduce cutting-edge technologies that will empower countries and markets to advance their digital agendas by harnessing the power of Cloud and AI." The collaboration between G42 and Microsoft has expanded through several milestones over the last year. This includes a joint plan announced in April 2023 to develop AI solutions tailored for the public sector and industry, leveraging Microsoft's extensive partner ecosystem and cloud capabilities. In September 2023, the companies entered into an agreement to introduce sovereign cloud offerings and collaborate on unlocking the potential of advanced AI capabilities on the Azure public cloud platform. Lastly, in November 2023, Microsoft announced the availability of G42's Jais Arabic Large Language Model on the new Azure AI Cloud Model-as-a-Service offering. 

G42, the leading UAE-based technology group, announced its role as the AI headliner and Leading Partner at this year’s World Governments Summit. G42 and its Portfolio Companies will engage in conversations alongside international leaders about the future of AI and its role on a global scale.The annual World Governments Summit convenes governments, international organizations and business figureheads to identify ways to propel international cooperation and transform governments via innovation and technological advancements. G42 and its Portfolio Companies are uniquely positioned to engage in these conversations given their cross-industry expertise and specialized AI applications that can be adopted by decision-makers worldwide. In 2024, the Summit will discuss the theme of “Shaping Future Governments,” where political leaders, international organizations, and private sector entities from around the globe will identify solutions for current and future social, economic, political challenges. G42 will drive the conversation, with executives from its ecosystem participating in discussions focused on responsible AI, healthcare advancements, the future of mobility, scientific discoveries, and government services.Attending G42 executives and the discussions they are part of include:Peng Xiao, Group CEO, G42, will talk about the role of AI in shaping the global economic landscape.Talal Al Kaissi, EVP, Chief Product & Global Partnerships Officer, Core42. will be discussing how to develop responsible AI for nations.Hassan Jasem Al Nowais, MD and Group CEO, M42, will talk about how to revolutionize health through technology and how to drive healthcare innovation through strategic partnerships.Hasan Al Hosani, MD, Bayanat, will engage in conversations about the future of mobility and the role geospatial intelligence plays in creating safer cities and communities.Dr. Andrew Jackson, EVP, Chief AI Officer, Core42, will delve into the latest AI advancements and applications.Thomas Pramotedham, CEO, Presight, will be speaking about optimizing government efficiency with big data analytics and GenAI.Hassan Alnaqbi, CEO, Khazna will be discussing the latest sustainability developments in the construction, design and operation of data centers.Peng Xiao, G42 Group CEO: “Every year, the World Governments Summit brings together the world’s most eminent thought leaders and officials to bolster international cooperation to power meaningful change. As a global leader in AI innovation, G42, along with our Portfolio Companies, is proud to play a prominent role in this year’s Summit as we collectively discuss ways to propel humanity forward through disruptive technologies.”

Dubai: TBWA\RAAD, known as The Disruption® Company, proudly announces an unprecedented collaboration with Core42, a G42 company, marking a milestone in the field of artificial intelligence. This groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishes TBWA\RAAD as the first creative agency to harness the creative potential of Jais, the world's leading Arabic Large Language Model (LLM).Speaking of the partnership, Joe Lahham, Managing Director, TBWA\RAAD, said: "This exciting partnership between TBWA\RAAD and Core42 represents a significant moment where creativity meets advanced AI. We're embarking on a journey to redefine how people express themselves creatively in Arabic-speaking communities. This collaboration reflects our commitment to pushing creative boundaries and driving innovation in the Arab world."Noah Khan, Regional President of Digital & Innovation - CEE, Middle East and Africa at TBWA, expressed his enthusiasm too, saying: "We are very excited to be working with Core42 on exploring the great creative potential held within Jais, and to build future-facing expressions of creativity together."Jais, developed by G42's visionary subsidiary Inception (now Core42), is at the top of the line among Arabic Large Language Models. Trained on a dataset comprising 116 billion Arabic tokens and 279 billion English tokens, Jais is a 13-billion parameter model that promises to revolutionize generative AI applications across the Arabic-speaking world.Andrew Jackson, Executive Vice President and Chief AI Officer of Core42, emphasized the importance of collaboration in innovation, stating: "Through collaborative innovation, we are setting a new standard for AI advancement in the Middle East and ensuring that the Arabic language, with its depth and heritage, finds its voice within the AI landscape. We are excited about the prospect of exploring new applications for generative AI in the media and marketing industries and we look forward to working closely with the TBWA\RAAD team to deliver the next breakthrough in this domain."Named after the UAE's highest peak, Jais is the product of a groundbreaking collaboration between Core42, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), and Cerebras Systems. Its training took place on the Condor Galaxy 1 AI supercomputer, the cutting-edge creation of G42 and Cerebras, marking a significant leap forward in AI advancement within the Middle East.

Dubai: G42, the leading UAE-based technology holding group, has announced a partnership with OpenAI, the AI research and deployment company behind ChatGPT, to deliver cutting-edge AI solutions to the UAE and regional markets.This partnership will focus on leveraging OpenAI’s generative AI models in domains where G42 already has deep expertise including financial services, energy, healthcare and public services. OpenAI will work with G42 to accelerate the solution development process, ensuring that organizations can best leverage the power of generative AI in their specific use cases.Through solutions built by G42, organizations in the UAE and the region will be able to simplify the process of integrating these advanced AI capabilities into their existing enterprise landscapes, unlocking the potential of OpenAI’s models.To drive this expansion across the entire region, significant AI-ready infrastructure is imperative. G42 will prioritize its substantial AI infrastructure capacity to support OpenAI’s local and regional inferencing on Microsoft Azure data centers.Commenting on the partnership, Peng Xiao, Group CEO, said: “At the core of our mission lies the pursuit of AI as a transformative force for good, fueling innovation and progress. Our partnership with OpenAI transcends technological synergy; it's a convergence of value and vision. We are excited to join OpenAI on the journey to shape a future where AI benefits all of humanity.”Sam Altman, Co-Founder and CEO of OpenAI, stated: “Our partnership with G42 is a significant commitment to further harnessing AI's transformative power. Leveraging G42's industry expertise, we aim to empower businesses and communities with effective solutions that resonate with the nuances of the region. This collaboration lays the foundation for equitable advancements in generative AI across the globe.”Both organizations will continue to explore ways to accelerate generative AI innovation and adoption globally.G42's efforts in the field of generative AI are currently on full display at GITEX Global in Dubai where its portfolio companies are showcasing a wide range of offerings that span across multiple industries.