Slovakia is expanding international cooperation in artificial intelligence. Education Minister Tomáš Drucker joined a global OpenAI meeting in the United States and held talks with NVIDIA. Slovak universities also joined discussions on new research partnerships in AI, quantum technologies and digital simulations.
Slovakia continues to strengthen its international partnerships in artificial intelligence. During his visit to the United States, Education Minister Tomáš Drucker joined a global meeting of countries cooperating with OpenAI on the use of AI in education. At the same time, he held working meetings with NVIDIA to explore research cooperation, supercomputing and new technology partnerships.
Representatives from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, the Technical University of Košice and the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies (KInIT) also joined the delegation. They focused on building contacts for future research projects in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and advanced digital simulations.
AI pilot project for future teachers
Slovakia already ranks among the first countries that introduce artificial intelligence into education in a systematic way. In cooperation with OpenAI, the Ministry of Education launched a pilot project that provides 20,000 ChatGPT licenses for students studying to become teachers.
The initiative prepares future teachers to work with AI tools before they enter classrooms. At the same time, it strengthens the digital skills of the next generation of educators.
“Artificial intelligence in education is not only a technological issue. It is also about responsibility, clear rules and teacher readiness. If we fail to prepare teachers, AI could widen the gap between schools instead of reducing it,” said Education Minister Tomáš Drucker during the OpenAI education summit.
The summit focused on how to ensure safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence in schools. Slovakia presented its approach, which integrates AI literacy into the national curriculum, supports teacher training and introduces clear rules for using AI tools in education.
“We cannot wait for perfect solutions. Technology evolves faster than education systems. Therefore we must learn, test and adapt so that AI strengthens creativity, critical thinking and decision-making,” the minister said.
Connecting AI with Slovakia’s strengths
Slovakia also aims to connect artificial intelligence with sectors where the country already has strong expertise. During the discussions, the minister presented the ambition to combine AI with the energy sector, especially nuclear engineering and simulations of complex energy systems.
“Our goal is not to compete in the size of computing infrastructure or in building foundation models. Instead, we want to connect artificial intelligence with fields where Slovakia has deep expertise, such as energy and nuclear engineering. In these areas, we can offer Europe top-level education and research,” Drucker emphasized.
Digital twins, supercomputing and quantum simulations
The working visit also included meetings with NVIDIA, one of the global leaders in AI infrastructure and high-performance computing. Discussions focused on supercomputing, digital twins of industrial systems, quantum simulations and new opportunities for cooperation between Slovak universities and international research teams.
The Slovak University of Technology and the Technical University of Košice already cooperate with NVIDIA on a joint study program focused on artificial intelligence. In addition, the delegation opened discussions about involving Slovak research teams in international projects related to digital simulations of energy systems, quantum computing and the development of language models for smaller languages.
Minister Drucker stressed that Slovakia wants to become an active partner in building the European AI ecosystem while contributing its own expertise.
“As a smaller country, we cannot compete in the volume of investments. However, we can offer talent, research and specialized know-how. That is where our strength lies,” he added.
Expanding global partnerships
Alongside OpenAI and NVIDIA, the Ministry of Education already cooperates with Microsoft within global partnerships. The ministry will soon announce additional collaborations with global and European partners to support teachers in the use of artificial intelligence in education.
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