MBZUAI Launches K2 Think V2: UAE's Fully Sovereign, Next-Generation Reasoning System

ABU DHABI, UAE, Jan. 27, 2026 /CNW/ -- G42, Cerebras Systems and the Institute of Foundation Models at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), today announced the release of K2 Think V2. This latest 70-billion parameter advanced reasoning system reasoning system is now built on the K2-V2 base model, IFM's strongest fully frontier-class open-source foundation model that's purpose built for K2 Think.

MBZUAI Launches K2 Think V2: UAE’s Fully Sovereign, Next-Generation Reasoning System

This launch marks a major milestone for the UAE's technological sovereignty. While earlier versions of K2 Think were open and widely accessible, K2 Think V2 (70B) is the first to be open from end-to-end; from pre-training data and curation through post-training, reasoning alignment, and evaluation. The result is a reasoning system that is both more transparent and more powerful.

By upgrading the base model to K2-V2, K2 Think V2 unlocks a new level of performance, openness, and independence, reinforcing the UAE's leadership in building frontier-grade AI systems that are globally accessible and fully sovereign.

Why K2 Think V2 is Different

K2 Think V2 marks a step change in open reasoning systems, shifting from a reasoning model layered on top of a foundation to one built directly into it. Inheriting K2-V2's long-context capabilities and full training transparency, it now operates as a fully sovereign system end-to-end.

Every stage of K2 Think V2 (70B) is open, inspectable, and independently reproducible, ensuring both scientific credibility and national AI sovereignty. Designed as a purpose-built reasoning system, it solves complex problems step-by-step using long chains of thought across mathematics, science, coding, logic, and simulation.

This reasoning-first, fully open foundation translates directly into greater levels of performance. K2 Think V2 delivers leading results on complex reasoning benchmarks, including AIME2025, GPQA-Diamond, HMMT, and IFBench, when compared against other open-source reasoning systems.

Key Features, Made Simple

Built on K2-V2

K2 Think V2 (70B) is powered by MBZUAI IFM's latest foundation model, designed from the outset to support reasoning, long context, and alignment, raising the ceiling for what the reasoning system can achieve.

Longer Memory, Deeper Thought

Expanded context length enables sustained, multi-step reasoning over much larger bodies of information.

Truly Independent Data Pipeline

All training relies on IFM-curated datasets, including the Guru dataset, fully decontaminated from downstream benchmarks to ensure fair and trustworthy evaluation.

360-Open Transparency

From pre-training data and intermediate checkpoints to post-training recipes and evaluations, every component is available for inspection, reuse, and extension.

For more information on K2 Think V2 (70B) or to explore the data used to build it, please visit the Institute of Foundation Models' official platform. You can also access the system and learn more through the following resources:

• Web Experience: Access the Web App
• Official Landing Page: Visit k2think.ai
• Mobile Apps:
  Download for iOS
  Download for Android
• In-Depth Details: Read the full blog post here
• Visual Overview: Watch the Promo Video                                                                                                             

For more information, please visit https://mbzuai.ac.ae/

About Cerebras

Cerebras Systems builds the fastest AI infrastructure in the world. We are a team of pioneering computer architects, computer scientists, AI researchers, and engineers. We make AI blisteringly fast through innovation and invention because we believe that when AI is fast it will change the world. Our flagship technology, the Wafer Scale Engine (WSE) is the world's largest and fastest AI processor. At 56 times larger than the largest GPU, the WSE uses a fraction of the power per unit compute while delivering inference and training more than 20 times faster than the competition. Leading corporations, research institutes and governments on five continents chose Cerebras to run their AI workloads. Cerebras solutions are available on premise and in the cloud. For further information, visit cerebras.ai or follow us on LinkedIn, X and/or Threads.

About Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is the first university dedicated entirely to the advancement of science through AI. The university empowers the next generation of AI leaders, driving innovation and impactful applications of AI through world-class education and interdisciplinary research.  In 2025, MBZUAI launched its first ever undergraduate program, a Bachelor of Science in AI, with two distinct streams: Business and Engineering.

About MBZUAI's Institute of Foundation Models

The Institute of Foundation Models (IFM) at MBZUAI is dedicated to pioneering academic research at the forefront of global AI innovation, driven by real-world societal needs.

With deep scientific roots and world-class talent in Abu Dhabi, Paris, and Silicon Valley, IFM builds some of the world's most powerful foundation models - open, fast, and focused on solving real-world problems.

These include the PAN World Model, K2, a 360-open LL, and K2-Think, a leading open-source system for advanced AI reasoning. IFM engineers have contributed to the development of low-resource language LLMs in Arabic (Jais), Hindi (Nanda) and Kazakh (Sherkala).

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SOURCE Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI)

MBZUAI Media, E: [email protected]