Negotiations with Perplexity AI

28 July 2025 - Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan Sherali Kabir held a video conference with Jerry Ma, Vice President of Global Policy and International Relations at Perplexity AI. The video conference was organized as part of Perplexity's cooperation with the Artificial Intelligence Council under the Ministry.

Perplexity AI is one of the world's leading artificial intelligence companies, currently valued at $18 billion. Its investors include Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and top-tier global venture capital companies. Peplexity has developed a next-generation AI-powered search engine that leverages large language models to process queries and generate answers based on up-to-date information from the internet. Perplexity's key differentiator lies in providing transparent, source-linked responses and enabling conversational search through advanced AI algorithms.

During the meeting, the Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan briefed the Vice President of Perplexity on the recent adoption of United Nations General Assembly resolution on the development of AI in Central Asia. The resolution was initiated by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan — the Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon. The Minister emphasized that the adoption of the resolution and the upcoming establishment of the Regional AI Center in Dushanbe present significant opportunities for collaboration with Perplexity.

Perplexity AI team acknowledged Tajikistan's notable progress in implementing its National AI Development Strategy until 2040 and presented its core pipeline of AI-driven products. Parties agreed to establish a joint working group to explore key areas of cooperation, including:

• Supporting Tajik AI startups through international "Perplexity for Startups" program;
• Piloting the Comet browser — powered by Perplexity's AI agent — within the Ministry's operations, in partnership with local AI labs;
• Exploring potential establishment of a regional Perplexity office within the upcoming "Area AI" technology park in Dushanbe.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Minister invited Perplexity's leadership to participate in the International Artificial Intelligence Conference, scheduled to take place on October 24–25, 2025, in Dushanbe.

It is worth noting that these high-level negotiations are part of the AI Council's broader initiative to attract leading global AI companies to Tajikistan, in the lead-up to the launch of the Regional AI Center in Dushanbe. To date, the Ministry has already signed several agreements with prominent AI companies from the United States and the UAE to establish regional AI labs within the "Area AI" technology park.