On June 17, 2025, the government announced Hungary's updated AI strategy and the establishment of the Hungarian Artificial Intelligence Office (MMIH), a move that has sparked significant debate in professional circles. The revision of the original strategy, adopted in 2020, was necessitated by significant changes in AI technologies and the regulatory environment over the past five years, particularly the entry into force of the EU AI Act in 2024. The MMIH's main task will be to coordinate the domestic AI ecosystem, oversee the implementation of the strategy, and strengthen international relations, and is planned to commence operations in September 2025 with 43 staff members and an annual budget of 2.7 billion Hungarian forints.
Experts primarily criticise the strategy for arriving with a five-year delay and with overly general objectives, while other countries are already focusing on specific application areas and economic sectors. According to data from the National Data Asset Agency, currently only 3.2% of businesses in Hungary employ AI solutions, compared to the EU average of 8.7%, and although the strategy aims to increase this to 15% by 2030, experts argue that specific incentives and support mechanisms are lacking. An analysis published by the Association of IT Companies points out that barely 30% of the priority goals from the 2020 strategy—such as creating 1,000 AI-focused enterprises or training 1 million citizens in AI—have been achieved, and the updated version does not contain enough concrete measures to catch up.
The revised strategy is built on four main pillars: supporting AI research, development, and innovation; developing AI capabilities and competencies; implementing AI-based public services; and establishing an appropriate regulatory and ethical framework. The document outlines 38 specific measures and allocates a total of 142 billion forints for the next five years, of which 87 billion forints will come from EU funds and 55 billion from the domestic budget. The Artificial Intelligence Coalition, which brings together more than 400 member organisations, welcomed the new strategy and the establishment of the MMIH, but highlighted that faster implementation and closer cooperation between state, academic, and market actors are needed to maintain international competitiveness, particularly regarding the development of the regulatory environment and the acceleration of specialist training.
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A dokumentum részletesen bemutatja Magyarország mesterséges intelligenciával kapcsolatos célkitűzéseit, intézkedéseit és a jövőbeli terveket a technológia fejlesztése és alkalmazása terén.
Vargha Dániel
Lengyel Tibor
