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The Uzbek government is allocating $100 million to turbocharge the development of the country’s AI sector.
A large chunk of the government funding is intended for initiatives to attract foreign investors to construct data centers in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region in western Uzbekistan, Digital Technologies Minister Sherzod Shermatov said in an interview with state television.
Funding will also be used to develop AI training programs, as well as implement a “package of 86 projects” covering a variety of economic sectors,” according to a statement issued by President Shavkat Miziyoyev’s office. The government will also create “a supercomputer cluster” to “provide the country with modern computing power for the implementation of AI-based solutions.”
Shermatov made the bold prediction that the state’s investments in the AI sector can achieve “a 10-fold return” within a few years.
A focal point for AI development will be the country’s universities. The minister announced that annual competitions will be held, with awards of up to $1 million (a comparatively huge sum in a country with an estimated per capita GDP of $3,161) given to promising start-up ventures.
On October 8, the state-connected UzDaily outlet reported that Digital Ministry officials held talks with representatives of Meta, the parent entity of Facebook and Instagram, discussing a range of issues, including information security, protection of personal data and safe development of artificial intelligence technologies. Company executives “expressed readiness to implement joint programs with Uzbek universities, including scholarship projects and pilot studies,” the UzDaily report stated.
