What Eric Xing’s Abu Dhabi venture says concerning the subsequent part of AI energy

Contents

A ‘Bell Labs plus a college‘The UAE as a soft-power AI ambassador The U.S. isn’t dropping the AI race Why open supply issues On ‘world fashions’ and AI hype AI IN THE NEWS EYE ON AI RESEARCH FORTUNE ON AI AI CALENDAR

Howdy and welcome to Eye on AI…On this version: my chat with AI chief Eric Xing…Trump’s AI export plan…drama on the Worldwide Math Olympiad…Stargate replace…transparency in reasoning.

I used to be excited and curious to fulfill Eric Xing final week in Vancouver, the place I used to be attending the Worldwide Convention on Machine Studying—one of many high AI analysis gatherings of the yr. Why? Xing, a longtime Carnegie Mellon professor who moved to Abu Dhabi in 2020 to steer the general public, state-funded Mohamed bin Zayed College of Synthetic Intelligence (MBZUAI), sits on the crossroads of almost each massive query in AI at present: analysis, geopolitics, even philosophy.

The UAE, in spite of everything, has quietly change into one of the intriguing gamers within the international AI race. The tiny Gulf state is aligning itself with U.S.-style norms round mental freedom and open analysis—even because the AI rivalry between the U.S. and China turns into more and more outlined by closed ecosystems and strategic competitors. The UAE isn’t attempting to “win” the AI race, nevertheless it desires a seat on the desk. Between MBZUAI and G42–its state-backed AI-focused conglomerate–the UAE is constructing AI infrastructure, investing in expertise, and aggressively positioning itself as a go-to accomplice for American companies like OpenAI and Oracle. And Xing is on the coronary heart of it.

Because it occurred, Xing and I simply missed one another—he arrived in Vancouver as I used to be heading dwelling—so we linked on Zoom the next day. Our dialog ranged broadly, from the hype round “world fashions” to how the UAE is utilizing open-source AI analysis as a strategic lever to construct gentle energy. Listed here are a number of of probably the most compelling takeaways:

A ‘Bell Labs plus a college‘

MBZUAI is simply 5 years outdated, however Xing says it’s already among the many fastest-growing tutorial establishments on this planet. The varsity, which is generally a graduate program for AI researchers, aspires to compete with elite establishments like MIT and Carnegie Mellon whereas additionally taking over utilized analysis challenges. Xing calls it a hybrid group, just like “Bell Labs plus a college,” referring to the legendary R&D arm of AT&T, based in 1925 and answerable for foundational improvements that formed fashionable computing, communications, and physics.

The UAE as a soft-power AI ambassador

Xing sees MBZUAI not simply as a college, however as a part of the UAE’s broader effort to construct gentle energy in AI. He describes the nation as a “sturdy island” of U.S. alignment within the Center East, and views the college as an “ambassador middle” for American-style analysis norms: open supply, mental freedom, and scientific transparency. “If the U.S. desires to venture affect in AI, it wants establishments like this,” he advised me. “In any other case, different international locations will step in and outline the course.”

The U.S. isn’t dropping the AI race

Whereas a lot of the general public narrative round AI focuses on a U.S.-China race, Xing doesn’t purchase the framing. “There is no such thing as a AI struggle,” he mentioned flatly. “The U.S. is method forward in concepts, in folks, and within the innovation setting.” In his view, China’s AI ecosystem continues to be constrained by censorship, {hardware} limitations, and a weaker bottom-up innovation tradition. “Many high AI engineers within the U.S. could also be of Chinese language origin,” he mentioned, “however they solely turned high engineers after learning and dealing within the U.S.”

Why open supply issues

For Xing, open supply isn’t only a philosophical choice—it’s a strategic alternative. At MBZUAI, he’s pushing for open analysis and open-source AI growth as a approach to democratize entry to cutting-edge instruments, particularly for international locations and researchers exterior the U.S.-China energy facilities. “Open supply applies strain on closed techniques,” he advised me. “With out it, fewer folks would be capable to construct with—and even perceive—these applied sciences.” At a time when a lot of AI is changing into siloed behind company partitions, Xing sees MBZUAI’s open strategy as a approach to foster international expertise, advance scientific understanding, and construct credibility for the UAE as a hub for accountable AI growth.

On ‘world fashions’ and AI hype

Xing didn’t maintain again when it got here to one of many buzziest traits in AI proper now: so-called “world fashions”—techniques that goal to assist AI brokers be taught by simulating how the world works. He’s skeptical of the hype. “Proper now individuals are constructing fairly video turbines and calling them world fashions,” he mentioned. “That’s not reasoning. That’s not simulation.” In a latest paper he spent months writing himself—uncommon for somebody of his seniority—he argues that true world fashions ought to transcend flashy visuals. They need to assist AI cause about trigger and impact, not simply predict the subsequent body of a video. In different phrases: AI wants to know the world, not simply mimic it.

With that, right here’s the remainder of the AI information—together with that tomorrow the White Home is about to launch a sweeping new AI technique geared toward boosting the worldwide export of U.S. AI applied sciences whereas cracking down on state-level rules which are seen as overly restrictive. I shall be attending the D.C. occasion, which features a keynote by President Trump, and can report again.

Sharon Goldman
sharon.goldman@fortune.com
@sharongoldman

AI IN THE NEWS

White Home to unveil plan to push international export of U.S. AI and crack down on restrictions. Based on a draft seen by Reuters, the White Home is about to launch a sweeping new AI technique Wednesday geared toward boosting the worldwide export of U.S. AI applied sciences whereas cracking down on state-level rules seen as overly restrictive. The plan will bar federal AI funding from states with robust AI legal guidelines, promote open-source and open-weight AI growth, and direct the Commerce Division to steer abroad knowledge middle and deployment efforts. It additionally duties the FCC with reviewing potential conflicts between federal objectives and native guidelines. Framed as a push to make “America the world capital in synthetic intelligence,” the plan displays President Trump’s January directive and shall be unveiled throughout a “Successful the AI Race” occasion co-hosted by the All-In podcast and that includes White Home AI czar David Sacks.

OpenAI and Google DeepMind sparked math drama. Over the previous few days, each OpenAI and Google DeepMind claimed their AI fashions had achieved gold-medal-level efficiency on the 2025 Worldwide Mathematical Olympiad—efficiently fixing 5 out of 6 notoriously troublesome issues. It was a milestone that many thought-about years away: a common reasoning LLM reaching that stage of efficiency beneath the identical cut-off dates as people, with out instruments. However the best way they introduced it sparked controversy. OpenAI launched its outcomes first, based mostly by itself analysis utilizing IMO-style questions and human graders—earlier than any official verification. That prompted criticism from outstanding mathematicians, together with Terence Tao, who questioned whether or not the issues had been altered or simplified. In distinction, Google entered the competitors formally, waited for the IMO’s unbiased overview, and solely then declared its Gemini DeepThinker mannequin had earned a gold medal—making it the primary AI system to be formally acknowledged by the IMO as acting at that stage. The drama laid naked the excessive stakes—and differing requirements—for credibility within the AI race.

SoftBank and OpenAI are reportedly struggling to get $500 Billion Stargate AI Venture off the bottom. Based on the Wall Avenue Journal, the $500 billion Stargate venture—introduced with fanfare on the White Home six months in the past by Masayoshi Son, Sam Altman, and President Trump—has hit main turbulence. Billed as a moonshot to supercharge U.S. AI infrastructure, the initiative has but to interrupt floor on a single knowledge middle, and inside disagreements between SoftBank and OpenAI over key phrases like website location have delayed progress. Regardless of guarantees to speculate $100 billion “instantly,” Stargate is now aiming for a scaled-down launch: a single, small facility, doubtless in Ohio, by yr’s finish. It’s a setback for Son, who not too long ago dedicated a record-breaking $30 billion to OpenAI however continues to be scrambling to safe a significant foothold within the AI arms race. Nonetheless, Bloomberg reported at present that Oracle will present OpenAI with 2 million new AI chips that shall be a part of an enormous knowledge middle growth that OpenAI labeled as a part of its Stargate venture. SoftBank, although, isn’t financing any of the brand new capability—and it is unclear what operator shall be creating knowledge facilities to assist the brand new capability, and when they are going to be constructed.

EYE ON AI RESEARCH

Sounding the alarm on rising opacity of superior AI reasoning fashions. Fortune reporter Beatrice Nolan reported this week on a bunch of 40 AI researchers, together with contributors from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta, and Anthropic, which are sounding the alarm on the rising opacity of superior AI reasoning fashions. In a brand new paper, the authors urge builders to prioritize analysis into “chain-of-thought” (CoT) processes, which offer a uncommon window into how AI techniques make selections. They’re warning that as fashions change into extra superior, this visibility may vanish.

The “chain-of-thought” course of, which is seen in reasoning fashions similar to OpenAI’s o1 and DeepSeek’s R1, permits customers and researchers to watch an AI mannequin’s “considering” or “reasoning” course of, illustrating the way it decides on an motion or reply and offering a sure transparency into the internal workings of superior fashions.

The researchers mentioned that permitting these AI techniques to “‘assume’ in human language presents a novel alternative for AI security,” as they are often monitored for the “intent to misbehave.” Nonetheless, they warn that there’s “no assure that the present diploma of visibility will persist” as fashions proceed to advance.

The paper highlights that consultants don’t totally perceive why these fashions use CoT or how lengthy they’ll hold doing so. The authors urged AI builders to maintain a more in-depth watch on chain-of-thought reasoning, suggesting its traceability may finally function a built-in security mechanism.