Pakistan and DFINITY are back at the table, this time over AI

Pakistan Digital Authority (@digitalauthpk) chair Dr. Sohail Munir (@sohailmunir) met in Dubai today with @dfinity founder Dominic Williams (@dominic_w) and business chief Pierre Samaties (@PierreSamaties) to discuss a sovereign AI factory for Pakistan's public sector. The proposal is to build software for government use and deploy it on the PDA Cloud Engine. Williams said the talks also covered the next phases of that Internet Computer ($ICP) cloud engine.

Second meeting this year

It is the second meeting between the two sides in 2026. In February, the Pakistan Digital Authority and the DFINITY Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding to advance sovereign AI-native digital infrastructure. Under that agreement, DFINITY is to support a dedicated Pakistan Subnet on the Internet Computer Platform, a sovereign cloud designed to host tamper-resistant software and AI-powered systems independently of foreign cloud providers.

The February deal also gives Pakistan 1,500 licenses for Caffeine, DFINITY's AI platform that lets users build and deploy applications using natural language prompts. According to Arab News, the partnership also includes plans to pilot a national messaging application and capacity-building across government, education and entrepreneurship. The agreement is a memorandum rather than a binding contract, so delivery depends on follow-up work such as the discussions held in Dubai.

UN pilot builds on Pakistan work

The Pakistan relationship has since fed into a wider effort. In August, the UN Development Programme and DFINITY launched a pilot to help governments test AI-powered applications while keeping more control over where their data and computing infrastructure sit. Axios reported that the pilot builds on DFINITY's ongoing work with Pakistan, and that UNDP planned to select five countries, each working on a problem proposed by its government.

Robert Pasicko, who leads the UNDP's Alternative Finance Lab, told Axios he expects the participants to come from Latin America, Africa and Asia. Munir told Axios that Pakistan is incorporating DFINITY's technology into its national digital infrastructure and already has several applications live using its tools.

The Dubai talks suggest both sides are now looking at how to turn the framework into a repeatable way of producing public-sector software, rather than a one-off cloud deployment.

Sources

Intelligent CIO: Pakistan Digital Authority and DFINITY launch sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure partnershipArab News Pakistan: Pakistan digital authority partners with Swiss-based group on sovereign cloud, AI systemsAxios: UN agency tests alternative to major cloud giants