Azerbaijan and Israel have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of AI, which, according to the official Israeli readout, will ‘address infrastructure for supercomputing, implementation of AI in critical civilian sectors, human capital, and joint research’.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presided over the signing in Jerusalem on Wednesday. The actual signatories were Azerbaijani Digital Development and Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev and the head of Israel’s National Artificial Intelligence Directorate Erez Eskel.
Azerbaijan enjoys close ties with Israel, supplying it with energy and receiving modern weapons in return. Even as Israel is facing growing international condemnation over the conduct of its war in Gaza, Azerbaijan has deepened its ties, particularly via the Azerbaijan state-run oil company SOCAR.
In his remarks at the event, Netanyahu said ‘AI, as you know, is Azerbaijan–Israel. AI is also AI, artificial intelligence, and we’re wedding the two things’.
‘We have a great partnership. It goes back for many years. I remember fondly my first visit to Azerbaijan many years ago. And then [on] my second visit, I saw the enormous change, the enormous development that took place there’, Netanyahu said.
‘So, I very much welcome this, and I know that General Askal will do everything to cooperate in the best manner with our trusted ally Azerbaijan. And we have many plans. I’m sure you will hear more about them, but I think this is another step up the ladder of forming this close relationship between us’.
Netanyahu concluded his remarks by saying that he sends ‘warmest greetings to President [Ilham] Aliyev’.
Nicholas Castillo
