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On May 2, a ceremonial award event was held in the capital city to honor the winners of the “National Competition” announced within the framework of the “Five Million AI Leaders” initiative, launched at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The event was opened by the Minister of Digital Technologies, Sherzod Shermatov. In his speech, the Minister highlighted the initiatives of the President, who recognizes youth as the country’s greatest asset, and emphasized the remarkable progress Uzbekistan has achieved in the field of digital technologies within a short period of time.

The award ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Preschool and School Education, E’zozxon Karimova, and the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Kongratbay Sharipov.

The “Five Million AI Leaders” initiative is an important project aimed at developing the field of artificial intelligence in Uzbekistan, enhancing youth potential, and preparing globally competitive specialists.

Launched by the Head of State in November 2025, the project has already provided educational opportunities to nearly 1 million young people. The aileaders.uz platform offers nearly 100 free courses from international educational platforms, including AI and IT-related courses provided by major organizations such as Coursera, Oracle, Huawei, Apolitical, and Eoppiva. Notably, nearly 3,000 of these courses have also been translated into Uzbek.

Within the framework of the “National Competition,” nearly 500 schools, 45 higher education institutions, and around 10,000 young participants and their mentors actively participated.

As a logical continuation of the “One Million Uzbek Coders” initiative, the “Five Million AI Leaders” project was officially launched by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during the International Artificial Intelligence Forum on November 28, 2025.

To ensure the continuous improvement of AI-related knowledge and skills among the population and youth, the aileaders.uz platform was launched within the project.

At the initiative of the Head of State, the “National Competition” was organized within the framework of the project to encourage teachers, students, and educational institutions across several categories.

In 2025, more than 640,000 participants successfully completed training and received certificates through the “One Million Uzbek Coders” and “Five Million AI Leaders” initiatives.

Based on the results of 2025, participants with the highest achievements were recognized as winners in the following categories of the “National Competition.”

In the “Most Active Higher Education Institution” category, the following universities received one-time cash prizes:

Tashkent University of Information Technologies — 100 million UZS Bukhara State Technical University — 50 million UZS Bukhara State University — 25 million UZS

Winners were also determined in the “Most Active Participant” category. In this category, 705 school students, 116 university students, and 9 young participants were recognized as winners. They were awarded laptops, tablets, and other valuable devices.

In the “Most Active Informatics Teacher” category, 107 winners were selected. Among them, 97 teachers received a one-time cash prize of $1,000 each.

Additionally, 10 Informatics teachers won international travel opportunities.

Winners were also announced in the “Most Active School” category. As part of the “National Competition,” the specialized school in Bogot district of Khorezm region and School No. 13 with specialized classes in Zarafshan city of Navoi region were awarded the grand prize — a “Presidential Gift” electric vehicle.