UAE's TII Launches Advanced Small AI Models Falcon 3

The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), a global applied research center under Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), has introduced Falcon 3, the latest update in its open-source large language model (LLM) series. Falcon 3 offers improved performance and can operate efficiently on light infrastructures, including laptops. 

Falcon 3 features enhanced reasoning and fine-tuning capabilities while being designed for accessible artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Trained on 14 trillion tokens—more than double its predecessor’s dataset — Falcon 3 performs well across benchmarks and ranks among the top global LLMs capable of running on a single graphics processing unit (GPU).  

The Falcon 3 series includes four model sizes — Falcon 3-1B, -3B, -7B, and -10B — available in Base and Instruct variations. The Base models are designed for general-purpose tasks, while the Instruct models are fine-tuned for conversational applications. All models are compatible with widely used application programming interfaces (APIs) and libraries, simplifying integration for users. 

The Falcon 3-10B model leads its category, surpassing other models with fewer than 13 billion parameters, including Meta’s Llama variants. 

Falcon 3 supports multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and offers quantized versions for efficient deployment in specialized systems. These versions allow for quicker integration and inference, making the models suitable for various use cases. 

At launch, Falcon 3 achieved the top position on Hugging Face’s global LLM leaderboard for open-source models of its size. The models are available for download on Hugging Face and FalconLLM.TII.ae, with detailed performance benchmarks provided. 

TII has also introduced Falcon Playground, a testing environment for users to explore Falcon 3’s features and share feedback. Falcon 3 is licensed under the TII Falcon License, based on Apache 2.0, with guidelines promoting the responsible use of AI.  

The Falcon 3 series will expand with new multimodal capabilities in 2025, including features like text, image, video, and voice processing. 

In a statement, HE Faisal Al Bannai, secretary general of ATRC and advisor to the UAE president for strategic research and advanced technology affairs, said: “The transformative power of AI is undeniable. Today, we advance our contributions to the AI community, particularly the open-source sector, with the release of the Falcon 3 family of text models. This launch builds upon the foundation we established with Falcon 2, marking a significant step toward a new generation of AI models. Our ongoing commitment to ensuring these powerful tools remain accessible to everyone, everywhere, reflects our dedication to global equity and inclusive innovation.”  

Najwa Aaraj, TII’s CEO, commented: “Our dedication to pioneering research and attracting top-tier talent has culminated in the development of Falcon 3. The result is a model that exemplifies our pursuit of scientific excellence, offering enhanced efficiency and setting new benchmarks in AI technology.” 

Dr. Hakim Hacid, chief researcher of the TII’s AI and Digital Science Research Center (AIDRC), said: “AI is fast evolving, and we are glad to be an active part of this journey. Falcon 3 pushes the boundaries of small LLMs further, contributing to the open-source community by providing access to a better-performing AI. We are confident that this latest release will open an unlimited range of opportunities and will have tremendous benefits, empowering businesses and individuals to use AI in ways that were previously out of reach.”