Mirziyoyev: Uzbekistan aims to enter top 50 countries in AI development

Uzbekistan aims to rank among the world’s top 50 countries in artificial intelligence by 2030. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced this on October 21 during a meeting dedicated to the development of AI technologies.

During the meeting, the President pointed out that none of the universities that train 2,000 specialists annually in this field currently have an artificial intelligence laboratory. By the next academic year, 10 higher education institutions are expected to be equipped with modern AI laboratories. In addition, banks will each establish a laboratory at one university, nine in total, as part of an approved initiative.

’’At the New Uzbekistan university, an Artificial Intelligence cluster operating under the network–university–partner principle will be launched. Starting from the next academic year, a joint AI education program will be introduced in cooperation with universities ranked among the world’s top 300,’’ the President said.

State grant quotas for fields such as artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, IT engineering, aerospace, and cloud technologies will be increased by 35%. To boost student interest in AI, a nationwide competition among university teams will be organized.

Due to the creation of a favorable ecosystem, local startups have received a record $264 million in investment since the beginning of the year. However, the share of AI-based startups remains low. Therefore, to encourage growth in this area, it was proposed to hold a ’’Best Artificial Intelligence startup’’ competition with a prize fund of $1 million.

’’We aim to place Uzbekistan among the world’s top 50 countries in artificial intelligence by 2030. Therefore, drawing on advanced international experience, we will establish an Artificial Intelligence alliance,’’ the President stated.

The alliance will include leading companies effectively operating in the field, foreign experts and local representatives, major state enterprises, banks, and universities. Its main tasks will be to strengthen cooperation with leading international research centers and accelerators, create media content based on local programs, and launch international PR campaigns, as well as organize the participation of local enterprises and specialists in international exhibitions, forums, and conferences.

During the meeting, it was also reported that the volume of AI-based services in Uzbekistan was estimated at $10 billion. It was also decided that deputy ministers and heads of sectors responsible for digitalization would simultaneously be in charge of developing artificial intelligence in their respective fields. Additionally, it was announced that 99 percent of settlements in Uzbekistan are covered by mobile communication.