Laws on Tashkent International Financial Centre and International Digital Technologies Centre Sent to Senate

The Legislative Chamber has passed constitutional laws on the Tashkent International Financial Centre and the International Digital Technologies Centre, where English and Welsh law will apply.

Amendments are also being made to the Constitution of Uzbekistan to establish a special legal regime in specific territories.

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Central Asia emerges as the world's fastest-growing startup region

And Uzbekistan stands at the very epicenter of this growth! In the latest report, our country has been officially crowned "Country of the Year 2026."

According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026 report published by StartupBlink, the region's startup ecosystem has expanded by 81% over the past year. This marks the highest growth rate among all global sub-regions.

https://pivot.uz/central-asia-emerges-as-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startup-region-uzbekistan-named-country-of-the-year/

#YC26

Beknazar, well-known to many for his successful journey with the Hupo startup, has relocated to San Francisco to launch a new global project in the Voice AI segment.

Speko (speko.ai), the startup he founded, has been accepted into Y Combinator, the world's most prestigious summer accelerator program!

@pivotglobaal

Anthropic closing a $30 Billion funding round

Anthropic is on the verge of closing one of the most high-profile financing rounds in venture capital history. The company is securing over $30 billion in new funding at a staggering $900 billion valuation.

This valuation pushes Anthropic past its main rival, OpenAI, making it the most valuable private company in the world. The round is being led by elite Silicon Valley funds—including Sequoia, Dragoneer, Altimeter, and Greenoaks—with each committing $2 billion. Anthropic is fully validating this investor confidence, projecting its annualized run-rate revenue to surpass $50 billion by the end of next month.

Read the full story on Pivot.uz

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$50 Million Venture Fund Established Under the Central Bank

Within the framework of ensuring the implementation of the strategic Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-359 dated November 27, 2025, the “Silk Road Venture” venture fund has been officially established at the initiative of the Central Bank. The fund provides direct venture financing for startups in the field of financial technology (FinTech) at their early stages.

The target capitalization of the fund is set to reach $50 million, with the initial stage charter capital being formed at 70 billion UZS.

Read more details on Pivot.uz

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Will AI explode the economy? The answer from Stanford professor Chad Jones

The smartphone in your pocket has 100 million times more transistors than computers did in the 1970s. Yet, you cannot do 100 million times more work. Why? The reason is — weak links.

A computer can crunch matrices like nobody's business. But a human still has to figure out what data to input and what questions to ask. No matter how powerful computers become — human speed remains unchanged.

AI hits the exact same roadblock: it writes code, analyzes data, and gives answers — but where factories need to be built, laws need to change, or robotic grippers need to operate, the real world moves at its own pace.

While Silicon Valley claims "everything will change in 3 to 5 years," Jones argues that even under the most aggressive scenario — it will take at least 30 years.

Read the full article on Pivot.uz

@pivotglobaal

Gemini Omni: the text-to-video era is over

The era of merely writing text or drawing images is now behind us, making way for a completely new milestone in the AI industry—data-grounded, logical video generation where reasoning meets creation. The next-generation multimodal artificial intelligence system, Gemini Omni, has been officially announced!

This new model provides the game development, advertising, and media sectors with the ability to edit videos through natural language in a continuous, conversational manner, while creating visuals that adhere to real-world laws of physics. Furthermore, it seamlessly synchronizes static images, video templates, and audio tracks to produce professional promos in a matter of seconds, alongside digital avatars capable of speaking in hundreds of different languages.

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IT Park Ventures increases fund capital to $30 Million

At the Global Tech Weekend Tashkent 2026 event, IT Park Ventures announced an increase in its fund capital from $10 million to $30 million.

The expanded fund will support:
• Higher investment volumes in startups;
• Seed and Series A stage projects;
• Tech companies expanding into international markets.

Read more on Pivot.uz

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“SaaS is dead” — why the US Military’s top software vendor is making this claim

Palantir Technologies — a giant that started out creating specialized software for the CIA and the Pentagon, and is now one of the top 20 most valuable companies in the US. In an interview with Forbes, the company's deployment strategist, Danny Lutkus, made a bold statement: "SaaS is dead." Why?

According to him, multi-billion dollar off-the-shelf software (like SAP and Oracle) is no longer effective. AI has slashed the cost of writing code so dramatically that building a bespoke, custom solution for every single business has become cheaper and more flexible than buying a standard SaaS subscription.

However, not everyone is buying into this revolution. What doubts did Forbes analysts raise? Can AI truly meet the scalability and security demands required to manage millions of large-scale transactions?

Read the full story on Pivot.uz

@pivotglobaal

#vacancy

They will be worth $400B

The team at Higgsfield AI has released Supercomputer — the first autonomous agent that runs video ad production end-to-end. Their technology has already generated 5B+ social media impressions (their Instagram* alone is wild).

They’re also preparing something massive for the 79th Cannes Film Festival: a 95-minute fully-AI generated feature film created as a showcase of Higgsfield’s capabilities.

And they’re hiring aggressively across the board: engineers, designers, product managers, bizdevs, and more.

What they offer:
• Salary in USD
• Generous equity packages
• Relocation support
• Chance to work at one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world

Explore open roles and apply here: higgsfield.ai/careers

What if an AI reviewed every contract before you signed it?

For early-stage startups, legal matters have always been the ultimate pain point. In today's market, where a good attorney charges hundreds per hour, most founders simply copy-paste contracts from the internet and end up facing incredibly costly mistakes later down the road.

As a solution to this problem, Anthropic has launched a completely new initiative on GitHub — Claude for Legal, an open-source ecosystem! The project has already secured 882 stars and 165 forks within its first twenty-four hours alone.

How does the system work, and what can it do for startups entirely for free?

Read more on Pivot.uz

@pivotglobaal

The National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzNIF) is going public on the London Stock Exchange!

On May 18, 2026, the IPO ceremony for the National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzNIF) will take place on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Watch the ceremony live via this link

Date: May 18
Time: 11:58 AM Tashkent time (7:58 AM London time)
Location: London Stock Exchange (LSE)

UzNIF IPO raises over $600 Million!

The National Investment Fund of Uzbekistan (UzNIF) has announced the results of its Initial Public Offering (IPO), marking one of the largest and most successful deals in the history of Uzbekistan's capital market.

Pivot had previously reported on the upcoming IPO, and the results have now surpassed expectations.

Read more on Pivot.uz

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A new $30 Million opportunity for Central Asian startups!

A major milestone for the regional ecosystem was announced at the GITEX AI conference in Almaty: The launch of the AP Astana investment vehicle and the GIG Fund, established in partnership between Accelerate Prosperity and the UK Government (FCDO).

Read more at Pivot.uz

@pivotglobaal

The Tech: Inside Central Eurasia’s IT Ecosystem

The Tech channel covers the latest technological developments and news within the regional IT sector. Its primary focus lies in startup growth, networking with industry experts, and highlighting current job opportunities in the tech market.

The channel features:
• News and updates on regional startups;
• Empowering opportunities for women in tech;
• Insightful live sessions and interviews with industry leaders on practical cases.

This resource is ideal for those looking to analyze changes in the Central Eurasian tech market and stay ahead of key industry trends.

Join the channel: @thetechkz

Foreign tech giants earned 552 billion soums in Uzbekistan — up 81%

According to the Tax Committee's Q1 2026 report, the number of foreign companies providing electronic services in Uzbekistan reached 89. They generated a total of 552 billion soums — an 81% increase compared to the same period last year.

Traditional leaders held their positions: Apple with 134.8 bln, Google with 123.7 bln, and Meta with 117.1 bln soums claimed the TOP-3.

The most interesting competition unfolded at positions 5 and 6: OpenAI with 21.5 bln soums and Anthropic with 12.6 bln soums placed side by side. For the first time, two AI platforms appear next to each other in the rankings.

The gap is approximately 1.7x. But this reflects not technical superiority — it comes down to market entry timing. ChatGPT has already built a broad audience in Uzbekistan, while Claude was only recently registered with tax authorities. A full comparison requires more time.

Demand for AI services in Uzbekistan is not just growing — it is expanding. How Claude's numbers will look in Q2 remains one to watch.

@pivotglobaal

Dreaming of your own startup?

Stop dreaming and start building at Techstars Startup Weekend Samarkand ideathon!

Experience 54 hours of non-stop action, mentoring, and networking. All you need is a business idea — we’ll help you on your journey and give you a chance to win a 30,000,000 UZS prize fund!

For more details, see the attached images!
May 15-17, 2026
"Silk Road" International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage
Register now: https://go.hackonnect.uz/sws26tshbsh

Stanford University professor Ilya Strebulaev has released the Q2 2026 ranking of the most successful "unicorn" investors in the United States.

@pivotglobaal

Yandex subsidiary Yango fined €100 Million

MLU B.V., a subsidiary of Yandex, has been fined €100 million in Europe for allegedly transferring the personal data of Yango taxi service users to Russia.

Read more at Pivot.uz

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