Pakistan’s AI Push Faces a Broadband and Power Problem

Pakistan's ambitious push into artificial intelligence (AI) is being hampered by uneven broadband penetration and gaps in electricity access, according to the World Bank. While the country is rapidly developing its AI talent pool, with 75,000 IT graduates annually and $4.6 billion in ICT services exports in FY2025-26, the region's overall internet usage often surpasses its income levels, but the quality and depth of connectivity remain a concern.

Pakistan ranks among eight Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAAP) economies with lower-than-expected mobile broadband subscriptions relative to income levels. The report highlights that electricity access in Pakistan stands at 95.7% of the population, which is below 99.5% in only five economies. Despite these infrastructure limitations, Pakistan is still positioning itself as a talent-led AI services exporter, supported by its high number of IT graduates and substantial ICT services exports.

However, the adoption of advanced AI tools is hindered by unreliable electricity and connectivity, which limit the reach, continuity, and productive value of AI applications. To address these challenges, Pakistan is implementing a $1 billion program through 2030, focusing on shared GPU infrastructure, a sovereign multilingual AI model, AI scholarships, and training for non-IT professionals.

While Pakistan leads MENAAP in AI usage on platforms like Anthropic's Claude, most usage is in arts and media, rather than software development. Additionally, Urdu faces underrepresentation in AI training data, which can impact the quality of AI outputs for Urdu speakers. The World Bank identifies three broader structural gaps across MENAAP that could limit AI productivity gains: localisation usage and foundational human and physical capital.

Small AI solutions, which are lower-cost and purpose-built, could help overcome infrastructure limitations, allowing economies with connectivity and electricity constraints to adopt AI.