Technion alumna Yoelle Maarek will serve as the head and chief researcher of the new AI/IR Research Center in Haifa being set up by UAE-based Technology Innovation Institute (TII).
UAE-based Technology Innovation Institute (TII) is setting up a new AI/IR Research Center in Haifa. Yoelle Maarek, a former executive at Google, IBM, Amazon, and Yahoo, will head the center and serve as its Chief Researcher.
Over recent years, the Emirates have concentrated many efforts in the field of artificial intelligence with investments of billions, and TII is considered the flagship of these efforts. The opening of the branch in Haifa and the choice of Yoelle Maarek indicate the Emiratis’ intention to set up a significant base in Israel and benefit from the many experts in the country.
“Thrilled to start 2024 with an incredibly exciting new adventure! I am opening in Haifa, Israel, an AI/IR Research Center for the Technology Innovation Institute (TII). TII is the UAE-based institute that invented Falcon, one of the leading open-source Large Language Models,” Maarek wrote on LinkedIn. “We will work on some of the most interesting challenges in AI and at the same time contribute to the vision of scientific collaboration articulated in the Abraham Accords. I could not wish for a more exciting and meaningful adventure. And yes we are hiring! Looking for talented and fun researchers and applied scientists in generative AI and Information Retrieval.”
Maarek, who has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, is one of Israel’s most prominent scientists. She most recently served as Vice President of Research at Alexa Shopping at Amazon. She previously worked as VP, Head of Research at Yahoo, and Engineering Director at Google, opening its first Israeli engineering office in Haifa.