Abu Dhabi research institute IFM on Thursday made six artificial intelligence models publicly available and accompanied the release with the full set of development materials used to build them.
The package, labeled K2 Horizon, contains model weights, the training datasets, source code, methodological documentation and intermediate checkpoints. According to IFM, these elements together permit researchers to follow the models' development pathway and to reproduce the results produced during training and evaluation.
IFM's release contrasts with approaches that provide downloadable models but limit disclosure about how the models were constructed. The institute highlighted that some developers release open-weight models without sharing the underlying data and methods, while other firms choose not to make their models available for download or to disclose the data and techniques used to develop them.
In commentary accompanying the release, IFM said the goal was to establish a reference point for what a fully open model release can look like. The institute also stated that the publication is intended to demonstrate to policymakers, regulators and public-interest advocates that openness and competitive performance need not be mutually exclusive.
The launch was described by IFM as part of the UAE's broader efforts to position itself as a global AI hub. By publishing both models and the supporting artifacts, IFM said it aims to provide a transparency benchmark for the research community and for stakeholders involved in oversight and public interest work.
What the release contains
- Model weights for six AI models;
- Training data and code used in model development;
- Methodological documentation and intermediate checkpoints to enable reproducibility.
How this contrasts with other practices
IFM contrasted its approach with methods that publish only model weights while withholding details about construction, as well as with companies that neither release models for download nor disclose development datasets and processes. IFM presented its package as an example of fully open release practices.
Context provided by IFM
The institute framed the release as a bid to influence how openness in model publication is viewed by regulators and public-interest groups, arguing that transparency can coexist with competitive capabilities. IFM also located the effort within the UAE's strategy to build out an AI ecosystem in the country.