The application period for the President AI Award 2026 continues in Uzbekistan—this is the country's first presidential competition focused exclusively on startups operating in the field of artificial intelligence. The deadline for submitting registration documents is set for August 15.
The competition includes a total investment fund of one million dollars. Support will be provided to fifteen AI startups whose solutions address areas such as public administration, industry and entrepreneurship, healthcare, education, green economy, and agritechnology.
The main requirement for participation is the existence of a functioning minimum viable product (MVP); projects that are only at the conceptual stage are not eligible to participate. To register, the team must provide a description and presentation of their project, as well as a video no longer than three minutes, a link to the prototype, and participant information.
Applying teams must consist of 3–8 people over eighteen years of age. Both citizens of Uzbekistan and stateless persons with permanent residence in the country are eligible to participate.
Three winners will be selected in each of the five thematic categories. The prize places include the following investment amounts: first place will receive $100,000, second place $60,000, and third place $40,000.
The investments will be provided by IT Park Ventures in two stages, contingent upon achieving predetermined performance indicators. Additionally, twenty-five of the most promising teams will participate in an acceleration program, the finalists of which will demonstrate their developments to investors at the Demo Day event scheduled for December.
Applications can be submitted free of charge until August 15 via the platform awards.gov.uz. Current information and important announcements about the competitions are published in the Telegram channels @PresidentTechAward and @president_ai_award. The media partner of the competition is the publication The Tech, and the entertainment partner is the mobile application OQ.