The Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) and the DFINITY Foundation have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop sovereign, AI-native digital infrastructure in Pakistan.

The partnership aims to ensure that sensitive national data remains within the country while enabling secure and modern software systems designed for the AI era.

The agreement was signed between PDA and DFINITY in Islamabad and Zurich. Under the partnership, DFINITY will support the creation of a dedicated Pakistan Subnet on its Internet Computer Platform (ICP). The platform functions as a sovereign cloud capable of hosting tamper-resistant software, national-scale applications, and AI-powered systems that can operate independently of foreign cloud infrastructure.

The collaboration also includes plans to pilot a National Messenger application to enable private and verifiable communications. In addition, the partnership will expand access to Caffeine, an AI platform incubated by DFINITY, through the provision of 1,500 Caffeine licenses. These licenses will support application development and capacity-building initiatives across government, education, and entrepreneurship.

DFINITY will also establish a local presence in Pakistan as part of the agreement, aimed at supporting long-term collaboration and ongoing technical engagement.

Dr. Sohail Munir, Chairperson of the Pakistan Digital Authority, said the partnership represents an important step in Pakistan’s digital development. He said investing in sovereign cloud infrastructure and AI-ready platforms will strengthen national resilience, support innovation, and create opportunities for public institutions, students, and entrepreneurs.

Dominic Williams, Chief Scientist and Founder of DFINITY and Caffeine, said Pakistan is adopting a forward-looking approach to digital infrastructure. He said the establishment of a Pakistan Subnet and investment in sovereign, tamper-proof systems will allow the country to develop secure and verifiable software and AI applications aligned with national priorities. He added that the partnership enables Pakistan to build, own, and operate AI and cloud services on its own terms.

Caffeine allows users to build and deploy production-ready applications on the Internet Computer using natural language descriptions, removing the need for traditional engineering teams and complex development processes. The platform is used globally by solo developers, municipalities, banks, and public institutions. Within three months of its launch, users executed more than 3.4 million build prompts.

DFINITY is the creator of the Internet Computer, an open network that provides a serverless sovereign cloud. The platform allows governments, institutions, and individuals to run tamper-proof and resilient software with full ownership and without reliance on foreign cloud providers or access by foreign intelligence agencies.

DFINITY has invested more than $500 million in research and development. Its team includes engineers and researchers formerly associated with Google, Apple, IBM, and Meta. The organization has published more than 1,500 research papers, received over 88,000 citations, and contributed more than 190 patents in areas including distributed systems, cryptography, and advanced computing.

The Pakistan Digital Authority is the federal body responsible for leading Pakistan’s digital transformation under the Digital Nation Pakistan Act 2025. PDA oversees digital policy, data and AI governance, national digital infrastructure, and shared government platforms, with the goal of ensuring interoperability, security, and alignment across federal and provincial institutions.

DFINITY is a non-profit organization focused on developing the Internet Computer and transforming the internet into a public sovereign cloud capable of hosting next-generation software and services. Founded in 2016, DFINITY operates research centers in Zurich and San Francisco.

Toyota Connected North America has announced a new gaming engine called Fluorite, developed specifically for automotive systems. The subsidiary, which focuses on in-vehicle connectivity, created the engine to deliver interactive experiences on hardware that is typically less powerful than smartphones or laptops.

Toyota is releasing Fluorite as a fully open-source engine. While the company developed it primarily for vehicle interfaces, the open source approach allows independent and enthusiast developers to use the engine for their own projects.

Fluorite is written in C++ and integrates closely with Google’s Flutter framework. This allows developers to use Flutter’s Dart programming language and high-level APIs to create interactive applications, including games and 3D interfaces, without relying on traditional heavy game engines.

Toyota said the engine is optimized to perform efficiently on low-end or embedded automotive hardware. Fluorite supports modern graphics technologies such as Vulkan, enabling hardware-accelerated performance and improved graphical output.

Developer Focused Features

The Fluorite engine includes tools designed to improve development efficiency. It features a hot reload system similar to Flutter, allowing developers to see changes within a few frames instead of waiting through long build cycles.

The engine also supports model-based trigger areas. This allows artists to define touch and click interactions directly within tools such as Blender, simplifying the creation of interactive interfaces.

Why Toyota Developed Its Own Engine

Toyota said the project began as part of an effort to build 3D user interfaces for future vehicles. The company evaluated existing engines such as Unity but found them too resource-intensive for embedded automotive systems. Licensing costs were also a factor in the decision.

Toyota concluded that building a lightweight, in-house engine would better meet its needs.

The Indus AI Summit 2026 concluded recently with a major step forward for Pakistan’s approach to artificial intelligence, moving the country from long-term ambition to concrete national action.

The summit set clear policy direction, secured international collaboration, and introduced measurable government commitments aimed at building Pakistan’s own sovereign AI ecosystem.

Held in Islamabad and organised by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, the event placed artificial intelligence at the centre of Pakistan’s economic, governance, and workforce strategy. The announcement of new funding, education reforms, and national AI governance principles signaled that AI is now being treated as a core national priority rather than a future concept.

A key outcome of the summit was the unveiling of the Islamabad Declaration, a national framework designed to guide how Pakistan develops, governs, and deploys artificial intelligence. The declaration focuses on sovereign control of data, accountable and ethical AI use, and practical implementation across government and industry, providing Pakistan with a clear roadmap for AI adoption.

The summit also produced major policy commitments from the federal government. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif announced a $1 billion investment in AI by 2030 to support sovereign compute infrastructure and research. The government will introduce AI education in federal schools, extend access to underserved regions, including AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Balochistan, fund 1,000 PhD scholarships in AI, and train one million non-IT professionals in AI skills to improve productivity across sectors.

Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja highlighted that implementation is already underway. She pointed to initiatives such as full e-office adoption across federal divisions and the development of high-performance computing infrastructure. She also emphasized the role of international partnerships in accelerating Pakistan’s AI capacity and credibility.

The summit featured senior international and local speakers, including technology policymakers, academic experts, and private-sector leaders from Pakistan, the Middle East, Europe, and East Asia. Discussions focused on AI governance, sovereign data systems, financing national AI infrastructure, and building competitive AI ecosystems.

The event concluded with a roadmap discussion on next steps, followed by the launch of Indus AI Week, which will continue through February 15. The week includes public exhibitions, student engagement, and startup-focused activities at the Islamabad Sports Complex, aiming to broaden awareness and hands-on exposure to AI technologies.