Venezuela Sets 2025-2031 AI Strategy: 4,000-User HPC Center and 10,000 Specialist Target

Venezuela's Ministry of Science and Technology (Mincyt) has outlined a national artificial intelligence strategy for 2025-2031, anchoring its infrastructure plans in specific hardware and personnel targets. The plan centers on the construction of a state High-Performance Computing Center equipped with GPUs running on free software, designed to support 4,000 simultaneous users from academic and business sectors. The regulatory framework for this expansion is already in motion. The project for the National Institute of Artificial Intelligence and ICT received first-reading approval in the National Assembly on November 19, 2024. This body will oversee algorithmic control and personal data protection, operating within a security architecture defined by "zero trust” principles, AES-256 encryption, and TLS 1.3 standards. Human capital is a distinct bottleneck the plan aims to address. The strategy assigns the Humberto Fernandez-Moran University of Sciences the role of producing the country's first data analysis and AI engineering experts by 2031. Specific targets include training 10,000 specialists in secure software, providing annual training to 5,000 participants in the "Scientific Seeds” program for children, and allocating 1,500 scholarships.