Pakistani students get free Google AI tools for a year
The deal covers digital skills, IT exports, public services, agriculture and small businesses as Pakistan pursues a $30 billion digital economy target by 2030.
Friday, 21 August 2026 10:07
Pakistan and Google signed an agreement in Islamabad on Friday that will give Pakistani students one year of free access to Google’s advanced AI tools, Dawn reported.
The memorandum of understanding was signed during a reception hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for a Google team at the PM House, citing a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office. “Pakistan and Google signed an MoU to promote national digital transformation and innovation,” the PMO said.
Under the agreement, the two sides will expand cooperation in digital skills, information technology exports and innovation. The PMO said Pakistan and Google agreed to expand the Google Career Certificates programme, with Google targeting 150,000 certificates in Pakistan for 2026.
The PMO said students would receive free access for one year to advanced AI tools, including Google AI Plus and Gemini. It said the two sides also agreed to cooperate on establishing an AI centre of excellence in Islamabad to train Pakistani youth and human resources for global market requirements.
The cooperation will also cover Pakistan’s mobile applications and gaming industry, digital payments and digital commerce. The PMO said AI would be used to improve public service delivery and government efficiency, including AI-powered data analytics in the Federal Board of Revenue’s digitisation programme.
The PMO said a task force comprising the government, Google and relevant stakeholders would prepare a roadmap for Pakistan’s IT exports and competitiveness, and identify barriers and growth opportunities. Google on Thursday announced a $500,000 Google.org investment for the Digital Pasban initiative, aimed at giving 200,000 households Urdu-language safety toolkits, videos and parental workshops, after opening its Karachi office on Tuesday nearly four years after registering in Pakistan.
Support nwsTrail
nwsTrail is an independent global news site. Your support helps keep the content free and independent.
