Minister says over 2,300 AI companies operating in Turkish technoparks

By Zeynep Duyar and Serhat Tutak

ANKARA (AA) – More than 2,300 artificial intelligence (AI) companies operate in Turkish technoparks, Türkiye's Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir on Wednesday.

"In the last 21 years, we have supported more than 3,700 projects and given 6.7 billion lira ($230,000) to more than 1,300 people in the field of AI. Today, more than 2,300 artificial intelligence companies operate in our technoparks,” Kacir said at Anadolu's Managing Al in Media program in Ankara.

He said they established the Artificial Intelligence Institute within the Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Türkiye (TUBITAK) to activate the AI ecosystem and strengthen cooperation between stakeholders.

Stressing that media is one of the sectors reshaped by artificial intelligence, he said: "The success of many digital content producer and server companies, which have exceeded billion dollar valuation today, lies in the fact that they accurately analyze user preferences with artificial intelligence algorithms and provide access to personalized content."

Kacir said the restructuring of the media and publishing industry brings new challenges for both media professionals and the society.

Talking about disinformation because of AI, he said the "risk of manipulation increases through news feeds, advertisements, and social media campaigns, and unfortunately, artificial intelligence technologies can also be used as an important tool in creating fake and outrageous content."

Misleading deepfake videos, which are difficult to distinguish from the real thing, have now become an indispensable part of disinformation efforts, he said, adding that this led to a decrease in trust in the media.

"I would like to thank Anadolu for its fearless pursuit of accurate and reliable journalism and its effective fight against disinformation,” the minister said.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar