Pakistan eyes Google collaboration for community-driven innovation and AI adoption

Pakistan’s IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja (fourth right) meets Google’s Regional AI Developer Ecosystem and Communities team in Islamabad, Pakistan, on July 11, 2025. (PID)
Short Url
Updated 12 July 2025
Follow

Pakistan eyes Google collaboration for community-driven innovation and AI adoption

  • Pakistan is currently focused on AI training in the fields of education, workforce development and industrial innovation
  • Minister says enhanced collaboration will accelerate Pakistan’s integration into the global AI ecosystem, digital empowerment

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and American multinational corporation and technology giant Google are seeking to collaborate with each other in community-driven innovation and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the South Asian country, according to the Pakistani IT ministry.

The statement came after IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja’s meeting with Google’s Regional AI Developer Ecosystem and Communities team to explore strategic collaboration in advancing Pakistan’s AI landscape.

The Google team provided an overview of their developer ecosystem, contributions of Google Developer Groups (GDGs), community-based AI initiatives, and impactful platforms like Taleemabad.

In the wider policy discussion, Khawaja emphasized the government’s focus on AI training across three critical domains: mainstream education, workforce development including freelancers, and industrial innovation.

“She stressed the need for inclusive access to tools such as the AI Seekho program, sandbox environments, and cloud credits,” the IT ministry said. 

“She called for enhanced collaboration between Google and the Ministry of IT & Telecommunication (MoITT) to accelerate Pakistan’s integration into the global AI ecosystem and promote equitable digital empowerment.”

During the meeting, Khawaja also had an interactive session with the N+1 team, a group of young Pakistani developers recently selected among the global top 10 in the Google Solution Challenge. The team proudly represented Pakistan at the regional showcase in the Philippines.

Khawaja praised their achievement and called it a testament to the country’s emerging talent pool and the importance of nurturing such success stories through structured support and mentorship, according to the IT ministry.

On Friday, Google said it has expanded access to its advanced video generation model, Veo 3, allowing users in Pakistan and over 150 other countries to create eight-second videos from photos with sound.

The move comes amid a global surge in interest in creative AI tools, with content creators using different platforms to generate video stories and bring still images to life. With Pakistan’s growing pool of digital creators, the rollout is expected to spur local innovation in short-form content.


Police arrest 49 suspected militants in Pakistan’s Punjab in a month

Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Police arrest 49 suspected militants in Pakistan’s Punjab in a month

  • The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan last year
  • Authorities have lodged cases against the arrested suspects affiliated with banned outfits

ISLAMABAD: The counter-terrorism department (CTD) of Punjab police has arrested 49 militants in different areas of Pakistan’s most populous province in a month and foiled a major terror plan, the CTD said on Saturday.

Pakistan is currently facing an uptick in militant attacks, mainly by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which borders Punjab.

The attacks in KP have forced authorities in Punjab to heighten security and take pre-emptive measures in view of potential spillover of militants into the country’s most populous province.

CTD officials arrested these militants in 425 intelligence-based operations and seized weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials from the arrestees, according to a CTD spokesperson.

“Forty-four cases have been registered against the arrested terrorists and further investigation is being carried out,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The development comes a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387. These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.

CTD conducted 6,131 combing operations in the province and arrested 599 suspects, according to the statement. Around 570 police reports were registered against these suspects, which led to 477 recoveries.

In Nov., the Punjab government had launched the country’s “first” mobile counterterrorism unit to monitor complex security operations in real time, while in Sept. the province announced the arrest of 90 suspected militants in a three-month counter-terrorism sweep.

Pakistan has struggled to contain the surging in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad broke down in Nov. 2022. The country faces another decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatists in its southwestern Balochistan province.

Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.