Nourix launches open-source Arabic AI model to cut costs by 70%

Riyadh-based Nourix Tech announced the launch of an Arabic large language model named "Nourix-Arabic 7", an open-source model available for free to government entities and startups in the region.

The company's chief executive officer, Fahd Al-Omari, explained that the model was trained on more than 600 billion Arabic words from diverse sources including Gulf, Egyptian, Levantine, and Maghrebi dialects. "The goal is for the model to understand the Arabic citizen as they actually speak, not just as written in books," Al-Omari said. A company statement noted that the model contains 7 billion parameters and can run on a single server equipped with a mid-range graphics processing unit, cutting operating costs by about 70 percent compared to similar foreign models.

The company stated that it invested $45 million to develop the model over 18 months with support from a local tech fund, while three government entities have already begun testing it in customer service centers. Nourix plans to release a larger version with 30 billion parameters in the second quarter of 2027.

This launch comes as Gulf countries race to build local capabilities in artificial intelligence amid concerns over relying on foreign models that do not respect the privacy of Arabic language and culture.

What do these terms mean?

Large Language Model (LLM): An artificial intelligence program trained on massive amounts of text to understand human language and generate new text.

Open-Source: Software whose source code is available to everyone for free to use, modify, and develop without proprietary restrictions.

Parameter: Internal variables learned by an artificial intelligence model during training to determine its accuracy and processing power.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU): A specialized electronic chip designed to accelerate complex calculations and heavy data processing required by artificial intelligence software.