President Aliyev says malicious use of AI is undermining counter-terrorism efforts

President Ilham Aliyev told participants of the 4th Baku Security Forum in Baku on 22 September 2026 that the malicious use of artificial intelligence is helping terrorist networks spread radical ideas and raise money, according to APA and Trend.Az, which both published his address the same day.

What Aliyev said

• On AI and terrorism: "the malicious use of digital tools, including artificial intelligence, facilitates the spread of radical ideas" and "expands the financial resources of terrorist networks and facilitates the recruitment of new supporters, creating serious challenges to the effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts," Aliyev said, according to APA.
• On the response: "the fight against terrorism must not be limited to the efforts of individual countries," he said, calling for it to "remain a key area of international cooperation and joint action."
• The forum, themed "New Challenges in Global Security Architecture and the Formation of Effective Cooperation Mechanisms Against Terrorism," was organised by Azerbaijan's State Security Service (Dövlət Təhlükəsizliyi Xidməti) and drew nearly 600 high-ranking representatives from more than 100 countries, APA reported separately.
• Participants also noted that "global competition over cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, and space systems is intensifying," according to APA's account of the forum's opening.

What it means for Azerbaijani institutions

The remarks come as Azerbaijan implements its Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2025–2028, approved by presidential decree on 19 March 2025 to accelerate AI development and build up governance mechanisms. The speech announced no new legislation or compliance rules, but it puts misuse and security risk into the same public conversation as AI adoption, a distinction that state bodies and AI vendors working with them will need to track as the Strategy moves from adoption goals to implementation.

Why it matters

Aliyev's address places Azerbaijan among the growing number of governments treating AI misuse as a security-policy issue rather than a purely technical one, at a forum that drew security officials from over 100 countries to Baku. For the wider Caspian and South Caucasus region, where states are simultaneously courting AI investment and building out surveillance and security capacity, the speech is an early marker of how governments intend to frame the trade-off between AI adoption and AI-enabled risk.