China’s proposal to establish a BRICS artificial intelligence (AI) open-source community could create new opportunities for Pakistan to expand its AI capabilities, develop local applications and strengthen cooperation in technology and skills development.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed that China lead the creation of a BRICS AI community focused on cooperation in the development and application of large language models. The initiative would also promote specialised AI training and the development of an open ecosystem for participating countries.
For developing economies, access to open-weight AI models could help reduce some of the financial and technological barriers associated with entering the AI sector. Developing advanced models from scratch requires substantial computing power, data centres, large datasets and specialised expertise.
Open-weight models can provide an alternative by allowing developers to download, adapt and build systems for specific languages, industries and public services. China has become a significant player in this area, with models including Qwen, DeepSeek, Kimi and GLM expanding the range of AI systems available beyond major Western technology companies.
However, open-weight models do not always qualify as completely open-source systems. While model weights may be publicly available, training data, development code and other components can remain restricted.
The proposed BRICS cooperation extends beyond AI models. Xi has also suggested the creation of a BRICS digital ecosystem cloud platform, digital-skills training programmes, cooperation in smart manufacturing and an engineer-training alliance.
These proposals highlight the importance of infrastructure and skilled professionals in expanding AI adoption.
Pakistan could benefit from such cooperation given its large population, young workforce and established information technology and IT-enabled services sectors. Access to open AI models could help Pakistani developers move towards higher-value AI products and specialised digital services without bearing the full cost of developing frontier models.
Language technology represents one potential area of development. Urdu and Pakistan’s regional languages remain less supported by advanced AI systems compared with English and several other major languages. Local developers could adapt existing models to build applications for translation, education, document processing and public information.
Agriculture could also benefit from AI-based systems that combine weather information, crop data, satellite imagery and local knowledge to provide farmers with timely information and recommendations.
Healthcare and education offer further areas for adoption. AI-assisted systems could support medical record processing and clinical workflows, while affordable AI-based learning tools could provide students with personalised assistance and help teachers identify learning gaps.
The public sector could also use AI to organise and analyse large volumes of regulations, statistics, court records and administrative documents. Government departments could potentially use such systems to reduce routine administrative work and improve communication with citizens.
For Pakistan to take advantage of emerging AI opportunities, investment in reliable electricity, connectivity, cloud services, data centres and affordable computing resources would be essential.
Universities would also need stronger links with industry, while engineering and computer science programmes could place greater emphasis on machine learning, data engineering and AI systems.
Cooperation with China and other BRICS countries could provide opportunities for joint computing facilities, technical training, research partnerships and AI applications for local industries.
At the same time, data governance would remain an important consideration. Pakistan would need clear rules covering the storage and use of sensitive data, particularly information related to government institutions and critical infrastructure.
The country could seek greater access to AI models and computing resources through BRICS cooperation while focusing on skills transfer, support for local developers and safeguards for data.
The broader objective for Pakistan would be to move beyond being an AI consumer and develop the capacity to build, adapt and export AI-based solutions for domestic and international markets.
