Comment by Riaz Haq on June 16, 2025 at 11:46am

Meet Cursor: How Anysphere’s MIT-born AI startup hit a $9.9B valuation in 3 years — TFN. Founded by Sualeh Asif, Pakistani-American cofounder

https://techfundingnews.com/meet-cursor-how-anyspheres-mit-born-ai-...

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From Karachi to Silicon Valley: The Remarkable Journey of Saleh Asif

From Karachi to Silicon Valley, Saleh Asif’s journey is a shining example of Pakistani talent on the global stage. A former International Math Olympiad participant and MIT graduate, Saleh is now the co-founder of Cursor AI — a $10 billion platform revolutionizing software development. Backed by global giants like OpenAI and Stripe, his success reflects the untapped potential of Pakistan’s youth in STEM and serves as an inspiring blueprint for the nation’s future.


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https://www.sualehasif.me/

Sualeh Asif
tweets :)
I’m building Cursor to discover a new way to write code. I owe much of my fun to my friends and MIT. I am extremely excited about the new capabilties of LLMs and applications to code tools.

Previously:

Studied machine learning, number theory, performance engineering, and theater at MIT.
Made early contributions to metaphor, an end-to-end LLM powered search engine (before it was cool).
Represented Pakistan at the IMO 2016-2018. Studied and taught competitive math at the Pakistani math camps.
Worked on translation at IBM Watson ML.
Selected Publications:
"Computing L-Polynomials of Picard Curves from Cartier-Manin Matrices", Mathematics of Computation, 2021.
"Arithmetic Expression Construction", presented at 2020 International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation.
"Tetris is NP-Hard Even with O(1) Columns", presented at 2019 Japan Conference on Discrete and Computational Geometry, Graphs & Games (JCDCG^3).
-- Sualeh

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 23, 2025 at 10:41am

E-Agri Leads AgriTech Revolution in Pakistan with Euronet Pakistan and CMA as Strategic Digital Payment Partners

https://propakistani.pk/2025/06/19/e-agri-leads-agritech-revolution...

E-Agri has officially launched a breakthrough digital platform designed to overhaul the country’s agricultural landscape. This game-changing initiative, conceptualized and led by E-Agri, brings together the power of artificial intelligence, real-time data, and digital finance to empower farmers at an unprecedented scale.

To enable seamless financial transactions within this bold digital ecosystem, E-Agri has onboarded Euronet Pakistan and CMA as payment processing partners—leveraging their global expertise to support the scale and complexity of Pakistan’s agriculture-driven economy.

E-Agri’s platform delivers a comprehensive, farmer-centric experience—combining AI-powered crop intelligence, weather analytics, expert advisories, and localized agri-research with fully integrated financial services. From seed to sale, farmers are now empowered to make informed decisions, access digital payments, and engage in transparent market transactions—all from their mobile devices.

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 27, 2025 at 9:32am

Effects of ChatGPT on students’ academic performance in Pakistan higher education classrooms
Muhammad Azeem Ashraf, Jan Alam & Usama Kalim

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-92625-1

The rapid integration of cutting-edge technology is significantly transforming the higher education landscape. ChatGPT’s groundbreaking technology has provided numerous advantages for higher education. This study explored students’ behavioral intentions to utilize ChatGPT as a learning resource in Pakistani universities and its effect on their academic performance. To accomplish this, the study employed a quantitative descriptive approach to examine the impact of various factors on students’ behavioral intentions, actual behavior, and academic performance. Reflective measurement criteria were adhered to in the development of all indicators and constructs. The study utilized the PLS-SEM to examine the relationships between variables. The findings indicate that ChatGPT platforms have been beneficial in enhancing students’ academic performance within the framework of Pakistani higher education. Behavioral intention serves as the driving force behind students’ actual behaviors, with significant influences from habit and hedonic motivation. These findings are encouraging for fostering a positive perception of ChatGPT usage for learning.

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Ethical consideration
Proper ethical standards were maintained throughout the study, in accordance with the guidelines provided by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1978). All participants received comprehensive information regarding the study’s goals, the voluntary nature of their involvement, and their right to withdraw at any moment without any consequences. A formal consent form was provided, ensuring that participants had all the necessary information and willingly agreed to participate in the study. To protect participants’ privacy and confidentiality, pseudonyms were used instead of their real names. Additionally, both male and female participants were included and treated with consideration for their individual needs throughout the research process. The Ethical Committee at the University of Wah, Pakistan granted ethical approval for this study. The research complied with all applicable ethical guidelines and regulations concerning studies involving human participants86.

Comment by Riaz Haq 5 hours ago

AI Overview
AI adoption in Pakistan is growing, with the country ranking highly in usage, but faces challenges in areas like infrastructure, skills, and ethical guidelines. The government has approved a National AI Policy 2025 to address these issues and promote development in sectors like education, business, and governance. Despite a positive outlook on AI's potential for economic growth and job creation, concerns remain regarding job displacement, the spread of misinformation, and data security.
Current adoption and outlook
High usage: Pakistan is ranked among the world's top five users of AI tools, with a large percentage of the population holding a positive view of its potential.
Positive perception: The optimism is driven by hopes that AI can create jobs, boost economic growth, and improve public services.
Sectoral adoption: Academia and research began adopting AI around 2010, followed by the startup sector in 2015, and government promotion in 2016.
Educational use: Teachers are increasingly integrating AI for tasks like lesson planning and content creation, though AI-driven grading is less common.
Employee interest: A majority of workers have expressed interest in receiving AI training to enhance their productivity.
Government initiatives and policy
National AI Policy 2025: The government has approved a national roadmap to guide the ethical and inclusive adoption of AI.
Focus on development: Programs are underway to develop the necessary policies, research, skills, and infrastructure for AI dissemination.
Digital infrastructure: The government is exploring ways to improve digital access, including incentives for rural internet infrastructure and using surplus electricity for AI data centers.
Addressing risks: The National AI Policy 2025 aims to create a framework that encourages innovation while also addressing risks and ensuring ethical implementation.
Challenges and concerns
Infrastructure and readiness: Pakistan's AI readiness rank is lower than countries like the US, China, and India, with challenges in accessibility and content on public websites.
Skills gap: There is a need for more trained personnel and a bottleneck exists in developing the required master trainers.
Data and security: Challenges include a lack of quality and availability of data, and critical concerns about cybersecurity and data privacy.
Ethical concerns: Experts are urging the government to establish clear ethical guidelines to address potential job displacement and the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and propaganda.
Bureaucratic hurdles: Reluctance to accept technology, resistance to change, and fear of machine-driven decision-making also present hurdles, particularly in the public sector.
Misinformation: The ease of creating AI-generated content has led to a rise in misinformation, which can escalate polarization.

Comment by Riaz Haq 5 hours ago

AI Overview
Yes, a survey by the Schwartz Reisman Institute indicated that Pakistan ranked as the fourth-highest user of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools among 21 countries. This rapid adoption is linked to a positive outlook on AI for job creation, economic growth, and improved services, though it also raises concerns about job displacement and the need for government-led ethical guidelines and policies.

https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/public-opinion-ai

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2565710/pakistanis-among-top-ai-users

High adoption rate: Pakistan's AI tool usage places it among the top five globally, with one source specifying the fourth spot.
Positive sentiment: Experts note that Pakistan's optimism is driven by hopes for AI's potential to create jobs, boost economic growth, and enhance public services.
Concerns raised: Despite the optimism, there are concerns about potential job displacement and a decrease in critical thinking skills due to over-reliance on AI tools.
AI policy and development: Pakistan has released an official AI policy and is developing its AI ecosystem, including creating its own local chatbot, Zahanat AI.
Need for ethical guidelines: In response to the rapid growth, there are calls from industry leaders for the government to implement clear ethical guidelines and policies for AI development and use.

Comment by Riaz Haq 5 hours ago

AI Overview
The world is embracing AI, is Pakistan ready? - Invest2Innovate
Pakistan ranks fourth globally for its use of AI tools, according to a 2025 survey by the Schwartz Reisman Institute, which noted a surge in AI adoption driven by hopes for economic growth and public service improvements. However, other reports indicate Pakistan lags in "AI readiness," ranking eighth out of 17 countries in South and Central Asia in a 2025 Oxford Insights report, due to factors like limited internet access and a lack of AI tools in local languages.
Rankings and perspectives
Fourth globally in AI use: A 2025 Schwartz Reisman Institute survey of 21 countries placed Pakistan fourth for its high utilization of AI tools.
A significant percentage of respondents held a positive view of AI.
Experts link this optimism to hopes for economic growth, job creation, and better public services.
Lower in AI readiness: Other reports present a different picture, showing Pakistan has a lower readiness for AI adoption.
A 2025 Microsoft AI Economy Institute report stated that Pakistan lagged behind leaders like UAE and Singapore, with less than 15% of the population using AI tools.
An Oxford Insights report ranked Pakistan eighth in South and Central Asia for AI readiness in government services.
Challenges and opportunities
Challenges:
Limited internet availability.
Lack of digital skills.
Absence of AI tools in local languages.
Outdated legal and policy frameworks.
Opportunities:
A growing tech ecosystem with IT exports.
Government initiatives like the recently approved Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy 2025.
Local startups developing AI solutions for niche areas like health tech.
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As Pakistan emerges among the top five global users of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, its rapid adoption is reshaping jobs and the economy, prompting urgent calls for ethical guidelines and pragmatic policy frameworks.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2565710/pakistanis-among-top-ai-users

According to a survey published by the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, the Pakistani nation is ranked fourth worldwide for utilising AI tools and applications, as per a survey of 21 countries.



The study shows Pakistanis hold a largely positive outlook on AI, though its rapid adoption is also reshaping jobs and sparking calls for ethical frameworks and policy interventions.

India led the survey with 43% of respondents expressing a "very positive" view of AI, followed by Kenya (29%), Brazil (27%), and Pakistan (26%). Among Pakistani respondents, 39% described AI tools as fairly positive, 22% as neutral, 8% as fairly negative, and 5% as extremely negative.

Experts believe emerging economies like Pakistan are more optimistic about AI due to hopes of job creation, economic growth, and improved public services. However, industry leaders caution that the technology, while efficient, is displacing jobs in IT and service sectors and weakening critical thinking among workers who are overly reliant on AI apps.

In contrast, advanced economies such as the US, France, and Australia reported the highest shares of negative sentiment. For instance, 34% of US respondents had either a "fairly" or "very negative" view of AI. Such scepticism might be tied to political divides, concerns about misinformation, or fears of job loss in white-collar industries.

Pakistan is not only among the leading users of artificial intelligence (AI) tools but has also developed its own indigenous chatbot, Zahanat AI, available in local languages. The country's growing interest in AI was highlighted at a recent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) dialogue, "AI for Humanity: Ethical and Inclusive AI in Pakistan", which brought together over 25 key stakeholders from the private sector, academia, civil society, and technology institutions to discuss the AI innovation ecosystem under the National AI Policy.

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