AI innovations to bolster Xizang's digital economy

The Xizang autonomous region is poised to accelerate its digital transformation and promote high-tech industries under its ambitious plans for 2026.

The plans were outlined in the 2026 Xizang government work report, released at the region's annual legislative session on Saturday. The report highlights efforts to strengthen the digital economy, expand artificial intelligence applications and preserve Tibetan culture through advanced technology.

Presenting the report, Karma Tsetan, chairman of the region, emphasized efforts to modernize service industries and advance computing power infrastructure. He said the region will focus on integrating digital and intelligent technologies such as AI.

A key contributor to this vision is Xizang Jueluo Digital Industry Management Co, a leading local company specializing in Tibetan-language AI technology and data asset management. The company has played a major role in advancing the "digital Xizang" initiative and promoting the digital preservation of Tibetan culture.

After eight years of development in data integration and high-quality database construction, the company unveiled its flagship product, "DeepZang", the first large language model in the Tibetan language.

Tenzin Norbu, president of the company and founder of DeepZang, said the project aligns with trends in the AI era. By leveraging Tibetan-language AI technology, the company aims to apply innovations across key areas including healthcare, education and ecological protection.

He also proposed establishing a national open source data center for Tibetan-Chinese bilingualism to safeguard cultural heritage and promote the growth of Tibetan-related big data.

He recommended that the Xizang regional government work with national authorities, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education as well as the Cyberspace Administration of China, to launch the initiative as part of China's upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

Over the past year, the company has made significant progress in advancing the region's digital economy. Its achievements include registering data intellectual property rights and developing DeepZang, which supports Tibetan-Chinese bilingual interactions across more than 140 languages.

The company has also built a Tibetan-Chinese parallel corpus of nearly 70 million sentences, achieved Tibetan speech recognition accuracy of more than 98 percent, and completed national registration of Tibetan AI generative algorithms.

"Xizang's specific needs have inspired technological innovations that bring tangible benefits to society," Tenzin Norbu said.

Digital solutions such as smart governance and digital education have supported transformation efforts across 14 regional departments, improving efficiency and connectivity, he added.

With strong central government support and assistive policies, Xizang's digital infrastructure has expanded rapidly in recent years. According to Xizang Daily, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the region's digital economy recorded average annual growth of 10 percent.

During the first three quarters of 2025, the region generated 14 billion yuan ($2 billion) in digital economy output, a figure projected to exceed 20 billion yuan for the year.

As of October, Xizang was home to 62 large-scale digital economy enterprises, which generated 11.44 billion yuan in revenue between January and October.

The region also has 169 national high-tech enterprises and 22 national-level innovation bases, highlighting the role of digital innovation in economic growth and integration into modern technological trends.

"The region aims to establish five large-scale digital economy enterprises and strengthen its position as a hub for cutting-edge technologies in 2026," Karma Tsetan said.

Chakdor Drolma, a Tibetan student at Xizang University of Tibetan Medicine, said she believes the development of Tibetan-language AI will help promote traditional culture.

"Making the Tibetan language more widely recognized and used will also help preserve the Tibetan script, allowing it to be used more frequently and preventing it from becoming endangered," she said.