Eric Xing

A major breakthrough that will tip the landscape of world models! The #FastVideo from Institute of Foundation Models of @mbzuai in collaboration with UC San Diego has demonstrated what becomes possible when generation moves faster than playback, producing 30 seconds of 1080p video in just 5 seconds (unlike other video-gen models like Sora that takes 1-2 minutes to generate a 5s 1080p clip). This result is based on our Faster Video Diffusion with Trainable Sparse Attention, with a reasoning backbone powered by our @K2thinkai LLM which provides real-time reasoning and control — an epitome where generation and intelligence operate together to break limits. The significance of this breakthrough can not be understated — it shatters a false spell on #GLP (generative latent prediction), a generative architecture of #worldmodel, that it is too computational expensive to be practical whereas encoder-only architectures like #JEPA is more efficient — making GLP a preferred architecture that is both grounded in real world via an encoding-decoding close-loop to avoid hallucination and ensure long horizon consistency, and at the same time computationally efficient and real time auditable and verifiable because of the fast generative capability. For consumers, it reflects a deeper shift in how we think about media, from something static and pre-defined to something that can be generated, adapted, and experienced in real time. We can now have an early glimpse of what next-generation World Model will make possible. Congratulations to @haozhangml and @waterluffy!

Eid Mubarak from Abu Dhabi to all who celebrate!

What will it actually take for AI to move beyond “book intelligence” and into the real world? MBZUAI President and University Professor @ericxing explores the role of world models in shaping the next generation of AI systems in a conversation with @DataCamp's Richie Cotton. From simulators that allow agents to learn continuously, to the challenges of long-horizon planning, the discussion unpacks what’s still missing on the path toward more capable, autonomous intelligence, and: – Why world models are positioned as a bridge between “book intelligence” and “physical intelligence,” – The technical bottleneck of long-horizon consistency – Why openness in AI development is critical for trust and scientific progress 🎧 Listen to the full conversation: youtube.com/watch?v=VNyLNZ…

I’d like to thank the entire @mbzuai community for your overwhelming composure, confidence, ownership, and loyalty to our institution, as demonstrated in an online town hall meeting held today with over 600 members in attendance. Contrary to what many outside of the UAE might imagine for an international institution under the shadow of regional uncertainty, the MBZUAI community and campus is calm and safe with active teaching, research, and office operations. UAE is a country with strong institutions, clear protocols, resolve, and preparedness for safeguarding their people. At MBZUAI, the safety and security of our community is our top and foremost priority. I am truly proud to have the privilege of working with colleagues of such outstanding professionalism, strength, and passion, and I have no doubt we will emerge from this period stronger than before.

CEO & Chief Analyst, Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead), shares his thoughts on @mbzuai (Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence)’s “strategically sound moves”…🚨 “…The timing of this institutional shift aligns with what the enterprise AI market is telling us about the shift from demos to adoption. A McKinsey survey shows that 65% of respondents say their organizations are regularly using generative AI. Yet Pew Research reports that many U.S. workers still say they rarely or never use AI in their jobs. What explains this gap? It is not primarily model quality, which in early 2026 is ample for the purpose. Rather, it is operational hurdles: data silos, poor or missing workflow integration, unclear or inefficient risk controls, and inadequate change management to address the human element. In this context, MBZUAI’s new phase is anchored in two moves that I think are strategically sound. 1️⃣ - Widening scope beyond the original AI pillars. The public-facing materials for MBZUAI’s anniversary and my private interviews both highlighted frontier AI research retaining its place — but now alongside robotics and computational biology. And these sources explicitly connected the work in AI to health, climate, and society. Connected to this, the shift from a graduate-only institution to launching its first undergraduate program in 2025 is a pipeline decision that could supercharge the talent engine. 2️⃣ - Formalizing a systems posture. The university’s Institute of Foundation Models (IFM) is positioned to build, train, release, and serve models that address real use cases, not just publish research. In a world where adoption is the bottleneck, a university that cannot ship systems, even through partners, would be constrained in its impact. MBZUAI is geared to avoid that constraint.   One crucial risk to any university is dilution. If it loses focus, a comprehensive university can drift into trying to be everything but excelling at nothing. If it wants to maximize success, MBZUAI will need a sharp identity: AI as a scientific and engineering substrate, with a small set of flagship domains where it can be world-class and consequential. So far, so good…” @ericxing 💡Read more here: moorinsightsstrategy.com/research-notes…

⏳ 27 February - Applications Deadline Reminder ⏳ 🧬 Master & Ph.D. in Computational Biology Master’s applications: mbzuai.ac.ae/study/msc-prog… Ph.D. applications: mbzuai.ac.ae/study/phd-prog… 🖥️ Ph.D. in Human–Computer Interaction Apply here: mbzuai.ac.ae/study/phd-prog… 🤖 Master in Applied Artificial Intelligence The program equips working professionals in the UAE with advanced skills to adapt and implement AI technologies across industry, research, and government sectors. Apply here: mbzuai.ac.ae/study/master-i… 📅 Submit your application before 𝟐𝟕 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 (𝟓:𝟎𝟎 𝐩.𝐦. 𝐆𝐒𝐓).

“The MBZUAI five-year anniversary is a marker that the institution is now large enough and visible enough that it must be judged on outcomes, not intent …” Well said @PatrickMoorhead , we look forward to taking on this new challenge! Thank you for the great article!

If your project can think, we want to see it 👀 Build with K2 Think V2, submit your demo, and get a shot at rewards up to $30K and real visibility. New round every month. First deadline: March 10, 2026

Ramadan Mubarak !

Ramadan Mubarak !

新年快乐！Happy Lunar New Year to those celebrating! May the Year of Horse bring you happiness and successes!

Releasing K2 Think V2, our most capable open-source reasoning model to date. Sovereignty, openness, performance, and real-world use: in one thread. We’re excited to see what the community builds next.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: We’re delighted to welcome two distinguished scholars to our academic community. Carlos Bustamante, Adjunct Professor of Personalized Medicine, is world renowned for his work in computational and human genomics. A MacArthur Fellow, his work in population genetics, ancestry inference, and genomic risk prediction has helped shape modern genomics. Haiyan Huang, Visiting Professor of Statistics and Data Science, is Fellow of the IMS and ASA. A professor at UC Berkeley, she is widely regarded for advancing rigorous, interpretable methods in high-dimensional data analysis.

It was a profound honor to welcome UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Excellency Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, to our campus.

We just celebrated our 5th year anniversary with a week long program of activities that included a formal ceremony where our president @ericxing reminded us to stay focused on our mission, and several distinguished lectures, including Nobel laureates. As the week concluded we didn't retreat to soak in the many accomplishments of our wonderful community. We retreated into a deep dive and hard soul searching and debugging session with the senior management team. We came out energized, motivated, and committed to contribute to the next phase of this young but mighty institution. Here are a few picks from the last few days. @mbzuai a very happy 5 year anniversary!

Randomly bumped into ⁦@LisaSu⁩ in Abu Dhabi (or a poster with her on it). 😉 They’re doing interesting things at ⁦⁦@mbzuai⁩. Competitive LLMs that are open weight & open data, PAN world model, applied AI.