Translated with AI
Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan Sherali Kabir held a video conference with Vice President for Global Policy and International Relations of Perplexity AI Jerry Ma. The meeting took place as part of the company's cooperation with the Council on Artificial Intelligence under the Ministry.
Perplexity AI is one of the world's leading artificial intelligence companies, with a market value of $18 billion. Its investors include NVIDIA, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and a number of leading international venture funds. The company's main product is an innovative next-generation search engine based on large language models that provides transparent, relevant, and sourced answers in a conversational format.
During the talks, Minister Sherali Kabir informed the representative of Perplexity AI about the initiative of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Leader of the Nation Emomali Rahmon, to adopt a resolution by the UN General Assembly on the development of artificial intelligence in Central Asia. It was noted that the opening of the Regional AI Center in Dushanbe will become a platform for expanded international cooperation, including the possible participation of Perplexity AI.
The Perplexity side highly appreciated Tajikistan's progress in implementing the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence until 2040 and presented a range of its own AI-based solutions. During the discussion, preliminary agreements were reached in the following areas:
Support for Tajik AI startups within the framework of the global initiative Perplexity for Startups;
Conducting a pilot implementation of the Comet intelligent browser based on the Perplexity AI agent in the Ministry and cooperation with local AI laboratories;
Developing the issue of placing the regional office of Perplexity AI on the territory of the future Area AI technopark in Dushanbe.
The Minister also invited the company's management to take part in the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, which will be held in Dushanbe on October 24–25, 2025.
The talks with Perplexity AI are part of a broader program by the Council on Artificial Intelligence under the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan. The program is aimed at attracting leading global AI companies to the country in preparation for the launch of the Regional AI Center in the capital. The ministry has already signed agreements with several high-tech companies from the US and UAE to establish their regional labs in the Area AI technopark.
