DUSHANBE, 20.02.2026 (NIAT Khovar) – Tajikistan is expanding cooperation with Google DeepMind in the development of artificial intelligence technologies, NIAT Khovar reported, citing the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Minister Sherali Kabir met with Owen Larter, head of cooperation with states at Google DeepMind, during the AI IMPACT SUMMIT 2026 in India to discuss prospects for expanding collaboration in artificial intelligence.

Officials said work is underway through the Artificial Intelligence Council under the ministry to improve SoroLLM, a national language model for the Tajik language developed by local specialists. The system is being refined using the advanced Gemma model from Google DeepMind. The base SoroLLM model has already been introduced in 100 educational institutions across Tajikistan as part of the Soro Project initiative.

Kabir also presented the artificial intelligence zone “Area AI,” a special initiative aimed at enabling companies to develop and export AI solutions from Tajikistan using a regulatory “AI sandbox” mechanism. Current consortium participants include Perplexity AI, Cerebras Systems, Supermicro and Yotta Data Services.

Larter expressed interest in strengthening cooperation with Tajikistan on advanced AI models for the education sector within the Area AI initiative.