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.
