BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 24. Tajikistan has
presented a project to establish Central Asia’s first Innovation
Hub of Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI Innovation Hub), which
is being developed on the Area AI platform in Dushanbe with the
support of U.S. technology company NVIDIA.
According to the Embassy of Tajikistan in Germany, the
presentation took place on October 21 at the Tajik Embassy in
Germany as part of the NVIDIA GTC Berlin 2026 international
conference.
The event was attended by Global Head of AI Nations at NVIDIA
Shilpa Kolhatkar, as well as representatives of technology
companies, including Armada, VEON, DataVolt, Perplexity, and
Supermicro.
Tajikistan’s Ambassador to Germany Imomuddin Sattorov emphasized
that artificial intelligence development is one of the country's
state policy priorities.
He noted that establishing the hub with NVIDIA's support would
contribute to achieving the objectives of the UN General Assembly
resolution on the role of artificial intelligence in the
sustainable development of Central Asia, adopted in July 2025 at
the initiative of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
Azizjon Azimi, Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Council
under Tajikistan’s Ministry of Industry and New Technologies,
outlined plans for the hub, including specialist training in
cooperation with NVIDIA and the introduction of Physical AI
technologies into the country's industrial sector.
The new hub will bring together universities, developers,
startups, and industrial enterprises to provide training, conduct
research, and facilitate the practical application of artificial
intelligence technologies. The hub is being developed and managed
by zehnlab.ai, one of the founders of the Area AI consortium, while
institutional support is provided by the Artificial Intelligence
Council under the ministry.
The initiative also envisages establishing a Physical AI Lab in
Khujand. The laboratory will focus on researching and testing these
technologies in industry, including the mining sector.
In 2022, Tajikistan became the first country in Central Asia to
adopt a National Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy. The
establishment of the hub marks the next stage in the development of
the Area AI platform and is intended to expand opportunities for
workforce training, research, and the practical application of AI
technologies in Tajikistan and across the region.
