Pakistan, Google forge partnership on AI

Students to receive free access to advanced AI tools

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and Google on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which Google will provide Pakistani students with free one-year access to advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools including Gemini, and work with the government to establish an AI Centre of Excellence in Islamabad, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The MoU was signed during a reception hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in honour of the Google team. Under the agreement, the two sides will work to expand Google's Career Certificates programme in Pakistan, with Google targeting 150,000 certificates in 2026 to help develop digital skills.

They also agreed to increase Pakistani students' access to Google's advanced artificial intelligence tools, with students set to receive free one-year access to tools including Google AI Plus and Gemini.

Pakistan and Google will also cooperate on establishing an AI Centre of Excellence in Islamabad, which will train young people and other human resources in skills aligned with global market requirements.

The agreement also covers cooperation to strengthen the global competitiveness of Pakistan's mobile application and gaming industries, promote digital payments and expand digital commerce.

The two sides will explore the use of AI to improve public service delivery and government operations, including the use of AI-powered data analytics in the Federal Board of Revenue's digitisation project.

In agriculture, Pakistan and Google will cooperate on using AI for crop monitoring, forecasting and sustainable farming practices.

The agreement also envisages the use of digital platforms to help Pakistani small and medium-sized enterprises access international markets.

A task force comprising the government, Google and relevant stakeholders will be established to prepare a roadmap for Pakistan's IT exports and competitiveness, according to the PMO. The task force will identify obstacles to IT exports and assess opportunities for growth.

The government said the agreement marked progress towards Prime Minister Shehbaz's vision of increasing Pakistan's IT exports and digital economy to $30 billion by 2030.