My latest article on Forbes.com is entitled “MBZUAI – Building Humanity’s Symbiotic Relationship With AI” – and is about a new AI-only university in the UAE. Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) was founded in 2019 as the world’s first university dedicated entirely to advancing science through AI. Led by founding president Eric Xing and provost Timothy Baldwin, MBZUAI is scaling rapidly—expanding departments and faculty—and is already ranked among the global top 10 in multiple AI fields. The university sits within a national push to build human capital and world-class AI capacity.
On the research front, MBZUAI’s Institute of Foundation Models—working with partners in the UAE—recently introduced K2 Think, an open-source model for advanced reasoning. It builds on a family of regional models that includes Jais (Arabic), NANDA (Hindi), and SHERKALA (Kazakh). The emphasis is clear: develop capable, efficient systems while serving language communities that are often overlooked. Baldwin underscores the opportunity to make a difference by engaging local language communities and addressing real needs.
This applied posture extends to public-value projects. MBZUAI recently hosted the first cohort of AIM for Scale, a collaboration with the University of Chicago that helps governments in low- and middle-income countries adopt AI weather models and build national services. Participants came from Bangladesh, Chile, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria, reflecting the university’s focus on climate resilience and agricultural preparedness across the Global South.
Undergraduate education is now a core pillar. In 2025, MBZUAI launched a Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence with two specializations—Engineering and Business—built on an AI and computer science core plus cross-disciplinary training in business, finance, industrial design, market analysis, management, communication, and the humanities and liberal arts for ethics and human factors. A “co-pilot” educational model integrates AI throughout the student journey, with problem-solving and critical thinking emphasized. The inaugural class includes 115 undergraduates from dozens of countries (about 25% from the UAE). The university admitted nearly 700 students across all programs in 2025, representing 47+ nationalities. Undergraduates spend their final year in co-op roles at top AI companies and research labs; students receive full scholarships with stipends, housing, travel, and health benefits. Faculty leaders describe a studio-like culture that evolves with the field, including startup development and investor-graded pitches, guest speakers up to a Nobel laureate, and hands-on exposure to building and safeguarding large models.
All of this aligns with the UAE’s AI vision. The UAE National Strategy for AI 2031 aims to make the country a global hub, targeting substantial contributions to non-oil GDP. Supporting infrastructure includes a new Stargate UAE data center—developed with leading partners—featuring over a thousand servers and up to 100,000 NVIDIA chips, with power needs on the order of 1 gigawatt.
Read the full Forbes essay: “MBZUAI – Building Humanity’s Symbiotic Relationship With AI.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpenprase/2025/10/27/mbzuai–building-humanitys-symbiotic-relationship-with-ai/