Jakarta. Indonesia must not fall behind in artificial intelligence (AI) development, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka said on Wednesday as he judged an AI competition at SMA 66 Jakarta High School. The event, hosted by Indonesia’s largest AI community, AICO, is part of a broader effort to integrate AI education among students.

"Developed countries are racing to equip their youth with AI skills. Indonesia must not fall behind—we must adapt. This is crucial for boosting productivity and creativity," Gibran told attendees.

The vice president also hinted at discussions with ministries on including AI in the national curriculum. "We will coordinate further. The President has already instructed early mathematics education in kindergarten. We want to add modern, essential subjects," he said.

Gibran’s remarks come as Indonesia accelerates efforts to develop its own AI capabilities. Senior presidential advisor Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan recently revealed that Indonesia is working on a local alternative to DeepSeek, China’s low-cost AI chatbot.

The proposed AI-powered chatbot will handle text-based tasks in Indonesian and English, making AI more accessible to local users.

Meanwhile, telecommunications giant Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and tech conglomerate GoTo Gojek Tokopedia have unveiled Sahabat-AI, an open-source large language model designed for Bahasa Indonesia and regional languages. Built with Nvidia’s AI platform, Sahabat-AI will launch with 8-billion and 9-billion parameter models.

Gibran said AI should be used productively by young Indonesians, particularly in problem-solving and brainstorming. "Our main concern now is ensuring that AI supports productivity and creativity," he concluded.