New partnership strengthens MBZUAI French research ties
MBZUAI and École Polytechnique forge elite AI alliance
#UAE #research - Abu Dhabi’s prestigious Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and French elite engineering school École Polytechnique have expanded their partnership through a new Collaborative Research Agreement. The UAE's first AI-dedicated university and the prestigious French institution will jointly advance research in large language models, foundation models for reasoning, and AI applications in biology, health, and safety.
SO WHAT? - MBZUAI has been collaborating with Ecole Polytechnique since last year and signed an MoU in February. The two institutions launched a Scholars Exchange Program in April enabling the exchange of students an researchers. So, the new Collaborative Research Agreement builds on this and takes the collaboration to the next level. Ecole Polytechnique and MBZUAI will now also work in partnership to will fund new PhDs and research programmes at the future MGX-backed Paris AI Hub as announced during this week’s Choose France Summit.
Here are some key points about this announcement:
Abu Dhabi-based Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and Palaiseau engineering school École Polytechnique have expanded their partnership through a new Collaborative Research Agreement.
The expanded partnership will focus on mission-driven research led by core investigators from both MBZUAI and École Polytechnique, with emphasis on advancing large language models, developing foundation models for reasoning, and exploring AI applications in biology, health, and AI safety.
This agreement builds upon a February 2025 Memorandum of Understanding signed during the AI Action Summit in France, where MBZUAI President Professor Eric Xing delivered a keynote address on AI, Science, and Society.
The two institutions further cemented ties in April through a Scholars Exchange Program Agreement enabling the exchange of students and researchers, creating a talent pipeline between the UAE and France.
MBZUAI's growing research presence in France is supported by the MBZUAI France Lab in Paris, which has already developed an open-source family of large language models called Atlas-Chat focused on the Moroccan Arabic dialect (Darija).
The MBZUAI France Lab will serve as a focal point for MBZUAI's upcoming Institute of Foundation Models (IFM), a global initiative that aims to connect AI talent across Abu Dhabi, Silicon Valley and Paris.
Abu Dhabi's global technology investment company MGX has recently announced a partnership with French national investment bank Bpifrance, Paris-based generative AI company Mistral AI, and US AI infrastructure leader NVIDIA to create what could become Europe's largest AI campus.
As part of the MGX announcement, École Polytechnique will run the academic component of the new AI campus and fund new PhDs and research programmes in AI, in partnership with MBZUAI.
ZOOM OUT - Officially opened in 2020, MBZUAI is the world’s first graduate-level AI research university, and forms a key part of the UAE’s vision to become a global leader in artificial intelligence. The institution attracts some of the best and brightest talent from around the world. Abu Dhabi’s AI R&D ecosystem now has the biggest critical mass of AI research talent and arguably the region’s most significant AI research output. Meanwhile, demand for top AI talent continues to increase across the UAE, with investment in AI talent growing fast across commercial and government sectors.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Read more about MBZUAI:
MGX & Bpifrance back 1.4GW Paris AI Campus project (Middle East AI News)
MBZUAI introduces its first AI undergraduate programme (Middle East AI News)
MBZUAI board change signals new phase in development (Middle East AI News)
MBZUAI adds Master's in Applied AI Degree to curricula (Middle East AI News)
Abu Dhabi's AI university sees 47% increase in intake (Middle East AI News)