Two months before the April 12 parliamentary election, on February 9, then-Minister heading the Prime Minister's Office Gergely Gulyás approved a HUF 300 million state grant for the Mesterséges Intelligencia Kutatóközpont, according to reporting by RTL Híradó.
How the support was awarded
The company registering the Mesterséges Intelligencia Kutatóközpont was established in December 2024. In February 2025 the centre received HUF 300 million from the Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő; the fund distributes money for the government's national policy objectives. The allocation was not made through a public tender but by an individual decision, with the recommendation submitted by Deputy State Secretary Szalay-Bobrovniczky Vince.
Later publicity and controversy
The research centre attracted further attention later after it was reported that the centre had claimed an aerial recording of the Tisza Párt’s October 23 event was fake. That episode formed part of a larger media dispute over crowd sizes at different events—whether more people attended the Fidesz-organized Békemenet and the related Kossuth Square rally, or the Tisza Párt events at Heroes' Square and Andrássy Avenue. Fidesz-aligned media subsequently cited the Mesterséges Intelligencia Kutatóközpont in claims that the image was a forgery.
Documents, accounting deadlines and registered address
Documents shown by RTL indicate the centre must account for the use of what the paperwork describes as twice HUF 300 million, with reporting deadlines extending to the ends of 2031 and 2032. The organisation is registered at a condominium in Budatétény; a resident at that address told reporters they had not heard of the research centre.
Outstanding questions
A previous article examined in detail that there is no visible trace of how the HUF 300 million in public funds was spent by the Mesterséges Intelligencia Kutatóközpont. The newly revealed documents and the discrepancies around the registered address raise further questions about the allocation process and transparency of the support.
