Uzbekistan intends to use artificial intelligence technologies from both the US and China, not limiting itself to solutions from a single country. This was stated by Bobur Khodzhaev, Head of the Department for Financial Technologies, Digitalization, and AI of the Presidential Administration, at the Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum in Tashkent.
According to him, American companies offer advanced AI chips and models, while Chinese developers are actively creating more accessible open-weight models. Therefore, Uzbekistan is interested in accessing technologies from both directions.
In parallel, the country is developing its own computing infrastructure. In July, the first large supercomputer began operating in the digital government's data center, and its capacity is planned to be tripled within the next 12 months.
The authorities are also working on their own AI models for education, healthcare, public services, and the financial sector.
A separate area is attracting investments in data centers. Tax incentives and a special electricity tariff are already provided for projects in Karakalpakstan. According to Khodzhaev, investor interest has already been generated.
In addition, Uzbekistan is creating a special zone, Enterprise Uzbekistan, where international technology companies will be offered a common law regime and tax benefits.
The authorities expect to use AI not only in the financial sector but also to scale technologies to other sectors of the economy.