Google donates another $1 million to Sofia AI institute INSAIT

Google has donated an additional $1 million to the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Computer Technologies (INSAIT) at Sofia University, bringing its total investment in the institute to over $6 million.

According to the institute’s website, insait.ai, the funding will help INSAIT expand its research, provide more computing resources, and support its national Explorer programme, which trains talented Bulgarian students in computer science and encourages them to continue their studies in Bulgaria.

Google also supports INSAIT's work on open language models. These include BigGPT, the first Bulgarian language model to be recognised by Google DeepMind and Google Research, as well as the MamayLM models for Ukrainian. Both were developed using Google’s Gemma series of AI tools.

Google’s continued support enables INSAIT to advance its AI research, nurture local talent, and expand the AI community in Bulgaria and the surrounding region.