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Google has contributed an additional 1 million US dollars to the Institute for Advanced Study in Artificial Intelligence (INSAIT) at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” pushing the company’s total support for the institute beyond 6 million dollars. This new funding will help expand research capabilities at INSAIT, including the provision of additional computing resources, and will further support the national Explorer program, which nurtures talented Bulgarian students pursuing higher education in informatics. The tech giant’s partnership with INSAIT, launched in 2022, initially included 3 million dollars in Google Cloud credits and two DeepMind PhD scholarships, helping the institute establish itself as a leading hub for artificial intelligence research and talent development in Bulgaria. In 2024, Google deepened its commitment with over 2 million dollars dedicated to training generative AI models, enhancing both scientific output and skill-building at the institute. INSAIT has also developed a series of open language models (LLMs) based on Google’s Gemma platform. Notably, BgGPT, the first Bulgarian-language model recognized by Google DeepMind and Google Research, has garnered international attention. More recently, INSAIT introduced the MamayLM models: next-generation open-source models for the Ukrainian language, built on Gemma2 and Gemma3 architectures. Google’s ongoing support underscores its long-term commitment to responsible AI development, fostering local talent, and strengthening the artificial intelligence ecosystem in Bulgaria and Central and Eastern Europe through INSAIT’s research and educational programs.
