Azerbaijan's Ministry of Science and Education signs second AI memorandum with OpenAI

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Science and Education and OpenAI signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding on the use of artificial intelligence in education, the ministry told the APA news agency on 23 September 2026. The document was signed in New York by Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev and OpenAI's Vice President of Education, Leah Belsky.

What the memorandum covers

According to the ministry's statement to APA:

• The cooperation aims to "improve teaching and learning opportunities for teachers and students" through AI and to develop standards for "safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence in educational institutions."
• One focus area is developing the ministry's education management system for mathematics, natural sciences and reading using OpenAI technologies, with teachers expected to get AI-based support for lesson preparation, teaching materials and student assessment.
• A "training of trainers" programme is planned to build local capacity among specialists and trainers in AI.
• The ministry said this is the second memorandum it has signed with OpenAI; the first covered the development of an adaptive learning platform, according to APA. Report.az, also citing the ministry, confirmed the same names, venue and three-year term, and described the earlier cooperation as having "focused on developing an adaptive learning platform."

Why it matters

The agreement extends a state education system's direct relationship with a frontier AI lab from a single platform project to a broader, three-year framework covering curriculum tools, teacher training and safety standards — a template other education ministries in the region are likely to watch, with no comparable agreement announced publicly so far as the cited reporting shows.

What it means for Azerbaijani institutions

The memorandum sits directly under the third goal of Azerbaijan's Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2025–2028, which lists "training a qualified workforce for the AI industry" among its four objectives, according to the decree reported by Aze.Media on 19 March 2025. For universities, vocational colleges and ed-tech suppliers, the ministry's "training of trainers" plan is the clearest near-term entry point: it signals demand for local AI-training capacity before any procurement or curriculum tender is published, and gives institutions building AI-literacy programmes a concrete government partner to align with rather than a policy document alone.