Türkiye elevates AI in new national technology and defense push

Türkiye’s decision to fold AI explicitly into its National Technology Initiative and to rename its core directorate the National Technology and Artificial Intelligence General Directorate is a classic example of how mid‑sized powers are trying to nationalize AI capacity. The new body is tasked not just with industrial coordination, but with data infrastructure, cloud systems and national AI capability building, with a particular emphasis on defense technologies and high‑tech manufacturing.([turkiyetoday.com](https://www.turkiyetoday.com/business/ai-x-defense-turkiye-redefines-next-chapter-of-its-national-technology-initiative-3211932)) That institutional upgrade matters because it gives Ankara a single lever to pull when aligning research funding, defense procurement and industrial policy around AI.

From an AGI‑race lens, this doesn’t suddenly turn Türkiye into a frontier lab, but it does show how advanced AI—especially autonomy, planning and perception—is getting baked into military and dual‑use roadmaps well beyond the U.S.–China duopoly. A more coordinated national AI apparatus makes it easier for Türkiye to adopt and customize frontier models (from OpenAI, Google, domestic efforts or others) into C4ISR, drone swarms and cyber defense, as well as civilian critical infrastructure. That, in turn, increases global demand for robust, controllable models and highlights how decisions made in a handful of labs will propagate into a widening circle of security actors.