According to Press TV, the allocation was finalized on Sunday as part of a memorandum of understanding signed between the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) and Iran’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
As part of the agreement, NDFI will provide more than $15.6 million in grants to AI projects at universities and private research centers to help commercialize them.
The fund said an additional $100 million will be provided to Iranian AI projects in the form of loans, adding that the Ministry of Science will oversee the implementation of the projects and how the funds are used.
With this allocation, NDFIs will also be exempted from tax liability notified in previous years, it said.
The NDFI is independent from the government budget and is responsible for converting nearly one-third of Iran’s oil export revenues into productive investments for future generations.
Iran’s Minister of Science Hossein Simay Salaf said funding is needed to ensure Iranian universities and research centers keep up with global advances in AI.
“AI is becoming ubiquitous, there is no denying this. The world’s major countries are making huge investments in AI, and we will increase our investments in this area.”
Iran has introduced large-scale projects in recent months to help expand AI in government agencies and private companies.
Iran’s Communications and Information Technology (ICT) Minister Sattar Hashemi said last week that his country is looking to partner with global players like South Korea to strengthen its infrastructure and transfer the technology and equipment needed to implement AI projects in Iran. He said he wants to form a partnership with an AI powerhouse.
MNA