El Salvador, Embarks on AI Collaboration with Nvidia... A New Challenge for the 'Bitcoin Nation'
El Salvador takes the first step in building sovereign AI in collaboration with Nvidia (Source: @bitcoinofficesv, X)
El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as the world's first legal currency, has now embarked on a partnership with Nvidia, placing Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the center of its national development strategy. On the 21st (local time), El Salvador's National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) announced that it signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Nvidia for AI cooperation. This collaboration shows El Salvador's new move to achieve economic growth and technological innovation through AI.
El Salvador aims to build its own AI capabilities optimized for its language, culture, environment, and economic conditions by leveraging Nvidia's AI technology and expertise. To this end, the government plans to focus on building AI infrastructure and nurturing domestic talent, using this as a foundation to address various social challenges, such as improving medical services, enhancing the education system, and increasing industrial productivity.
The Letter of Intent also includes an AI education program for developers, researchers, and public sector participants. Along with this, plans are underway to develop advanced climate models that can predict the risk of disasters such as landslides and to optimize the operation of hydroelectric resources to pursue public safety and energy efficiency simultaneously.
El Salvador's recent move is evaluated as a strategic choice of an emerging economy to timely adopt AI technology as a growth engine. As AI technology emerges as a key asset for economic competitiveness and national operational efficiency worldwide, El Salvador seeks to strengthen its technological sovereignty in a similar direction to countries like Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and China.
Meanwhile, El Salvador has already been promoting various AI-centric projects. In March, it announced a public AI education program at the university level, ‘CUBO_ai,’ and plans the first lecture of the program with support from Cathie Wood, who has strong support for Bitcoin. Cathie Wood has forecast that El Salvador's Bitcoin and AI strategies could grow its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) tenfold by 2029.
However, Bitcoin-related policies also act as a factor of conflict with the international community. Earlier this year, the Salvadoran government was recommended to limit additional Bitcoin purchases as a condition for receiving a $1.4 billion support agreement from the IMF, but continues its cryptocurrency policy by maintaining ‘1 Bitcoin purchase per day’.
The world is watching to see what results El Salvador's strategy, which seeks to strengthen both AI and blockchain, will bring about in the future.