Iran Unveils Prototype for National AI Platform

On 15 March 2025, oppo­si­tion news plat­form Iran Inter­na­tion­al report­ed that Iran had intro­duced a pro­to­type of its nation­al arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) plat­form, aim­ing for full deploy­ment by March 2026. The arti­cle begins:

Iran has unveiled a pro­to­type of its nation­al arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) plat­form, devel­oped in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Sharif Uni­ver­si­ty of Tech­nol­o­gy. The plat­form, designed to oper­ate on domes­tic lan­guages and remain func­tion­al even with inter­net dis­rup­tions, is slat­ed for full release by March 2026, accord­ing to the Vice Pres­i­den­cy for Sci­ence, Tech­nol­o­gy and Knowl­edge-Based Econ­o­my. “This plat­form is a liv­ing enti­ty and must be con­stant­ly updat­ed,” said ‌‌Vice-Pres­i­dent Hos­sein Afshin, dur­ing the unveil­ing cer­e­mo­ny. He out­lined a phased roll­out, with ini­tial test­ing and opti­miza­tion in 2025, fol­lowed by lim­it­ed access for experts and knowl­edge-based com­pa­nies, a pub­lic beta release, and the final ver­sion in March 2026. Fram­ing the project as a strate­gic move in a glob­al “war of chips and algo­rithms.” Afshin and oth­er offi­cials present in the cer­e­mo­ny cit­ed the plat­for­m’s open-source nature and domes­tic infra­struc­ture as key advan­tages, which they said will ensure its func­tion­al­i­ty even under sanc­tions or inter­net disruptions…

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Key Points:

• Iran’s AI plat­form is designed for domes­tic use, ensur­ing func­tion­al­i­ty even if inter­na­tion­al inter­net access is cut off.
• Offi­cials claim the plat­for­m’s open-source nature and domes­tic infra­struc­ture pro­tect it from sanc­tions and for­eign interference.
• The plat­form aims to address Iran’s lag­ging AI devel­op­ment com­pared to region­al peers, cit­ing research and indus­try gaps.
• A Euro­pean Union report warns Iran’s AI expan­sion may bol­ster state sur­veil­lance and dig­i­tal cen­sor­ship capabilities.