Romania names first AI minister: Bitdefender researcher Bogdan Dumitru

Romania will establish its first-ever Ministry for Artificial Intelligence, with Bogdan Dumitru, a Bitdefender chief researcher and University of Bucharest associate professor, proposed as minister in the new Luca Niculescu government. Dumitru has worked at cybersecurity firm Bitdefender since October 2001, serving as CTO until June 2024, when he became chief researcher leading over 400 researchers across four campuses. He holds a master's degree in mathematics and computer science and a PhD in natural language processing from the University of Bucharest. The new ministry marks a first for Romania, as previous governments never had a dedicated AI portfolio, though communications have been represented in various forms. Dumitru's appointment is among several technocrat picks in the incoming cabinet.