Abu Dhabi-based AI company Inception42, part of the G42 group, has launched Seraj, an Arabic-first enterprise AI model. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, the model is available through Core42’s sovereign AI platform, Compass, and is designed to close the performance gap for Arabic-language AI in high-stakes commercial and government applications.
Quick Facts
- New Arabic-first enterprise AI model
- Developed with Microsoft on GPT-4.1
- Targets government and key enterprise sectors
Bridging the Arabic AI Gap
Most major AI models were built primarily for English, with Arabic capabilities often added as an afterthought. This has led to persistent weaknesses in comprehending regional dialects, cultural context, and safety protocols, slowing AI adoption across the Gulf’s enterprise sector. While some foundation models have been built for Arabic from the ground up, they have often lagged in meeting enterprise-grade performance standards.
Seraj, named after the Arabic word for “light” or “illumination,” aims to resolve this trade-off. It provides a solution for organizations that have been forced to choose between the advanced reasoning of global models and the linguistic precision required for the Arabic market.
Ashish Koshy, CEO of Inception42, said: “Seraj is a gamechanger. Organizations across the region have been forced to choose between global AI capability and meaningful Arabic performance. Seraj changes that equation. From government services and legal analysis to customer engagement and knowledge management, the model is designed to help organizations deploy Arabic AI at scale with confidence.”
A New Architectural Approach
Instead of building a new model from scratch, Inception42 applied targeted mid-training techniques to OpenAI’s GPT-4.1. This process involved enhancing the model with curated, high-quality Arabic datasets covering linguistics, cultural knowledge, safety scenarios, and domain-specific content for industries like finance and law.
This architectural approach allows Seraj to retain GPT-4.1’s powerful reasoning and multilingual capabilities while significantly improving its performance and accuracy in Arabic.
Rima Semaan, Director of AI and Enterprise Solutions at Microsoft UAE, commented: “Microsoft’s collaboration with Inception42 on Seraj reflects a shared commitment to expanding the real-world impact of AI across the region. By combining advanced frontier model capabilities with regionally relevant linguistic and cultural intelligence, Seraj supports the UAE’s broader vision of accelerating responsible AI adoption across governments, enterprises, and critical industries.”
Sovereign Deployment for High-Stakes Sectors
Seraj is designed for a range of enterprise use cases, including document summarization, translation, workflow automation, and bilingual Arabic-English applications. It specifically targets sectors where contextual understanding is critical, such as government services, legal analysis, Islamic studies, financial services, education, and media.
The model’s availability through Compass, Core42’s sovereign AI platform, is a key feature for public sector clients. This ensures deployment within an environment that meets strict data residency and compliance requirements.
About Inception42
Inception42 is AI-native from the ground up, transforming world-leading research into live, sovereign deployments at the core of governments and enterprises. As the intelligence layer of the G42 Intelligence Grid, it turns data into decisions that drive real-world impact. Its intelligence fabric comprises a portfolio of AI-native products and solutions, enabling leaders to operate with certainty, act decisively, and deliver outcomes at national and enterprise scale.
Source: Middle East AI News
