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\nJensen Huang and Kazakhstan\u2019s AI Minister Speak at Alem.AI<\/p>\n
In their fireside chat at Alem.AI, Kazakhstan\u2019s international center for artificial intelligence, Madiyev and Huang discussed the country\u2019s push to become an AI nation \u2014 building the energy and computing infrastructure to support homegrown AI and applying it across the economy.<\/p>\n
Madiyev said Kazakhstan wants AI that reflects its language and culture. \u201cWe want AI that understands and speaks Kazakh and captures cultural contexts and cultural specifics,\u201d he said, describing the country\u2019s work on Kazakh-language models.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Huang said Kazakhstan could turn its energy resources into a foundation for AI production \u2014 and a new kind of export. \u201cInstead of just exporting energy, in the future, you could transform energy into intelligence and export intelligence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also argued that local data is central to that ambition: it embodies a country\u2019s culture, history and values. \u201cYour country\u2019s data is your natural resource. It belongs to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The conversation also turned to physical AI. Madiyev pointed to Kazakhstan\u2019s factories, mines, agriculture, transport and logistics as potential areas for development, asking how the country could become a hub for training models for robots and other physical systems.<\/p>\n
Huang called the idea \u201cfantastic,\u201d saying physical AI could transform industries from mining and mineral processing to agriculture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Huang said AI and robotics can help people do more, but ambition will shape how fully they seize that opportunity. He applied the idea to Kazakhstan, saying AI could help lift the country and its people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have ambition, and I believe you do, AI will lift your nation,\u201d Huang said. \u201cAI will lift your people.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Huang also praised the founders of Higgsfield AI, the Kazakhstan-founded startup, and it was announced NVIDIA is making an investment into the startup during the event. \u201cThe first thing and the last thing is you invest in people, not companies,\u201d he said, describing the founders as visionary and pointing to their effort to compete globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked about AI security, Huang said the technology must be developed and deployed responsibly. He described NVIDIA\u2019s OpenShell as a way to contain AI agents by limiting their access to files and tools and monitoring their activity.<\/p>\n
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For young people entering a fast-changing field, Huang recommended learning how AI works \u2014 not just how to use it. He said aspiring AI programmers should understand the technology\u2019s principles, strengths and weaknesses, combining technical knowledge with the ability to work effectively with AI. <\/p>\n
\u201cI envy being 18 years old today\u2026 because the world is changing so rapidly, and there\u2019s a complete reset because of technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Infrastructure Layer Is Scaling<\/p>\n
The visits coincided with a signing ceremony marking Firebird\u2019s investment agreement with the government of Kazakhstan, held at the presidential palace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Building on its first AI factory in Armenia, Firebird is expanding into Kazakhstan, where it has secured a U.S. export license for 45,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs. The first phase is under construction with Kazakhtelecom at Data Center Valley, targeting commercial launch in the third quarter of 2027.<\/p>\n
A planned second phase would bring Firebird\u2019s total potential AI infrastructure capacity in Kazakhstan to approximately 500 megawatts. Firebird also plans to establish Firebird Labs Kazakhstan to support local AI startups, research and talent development through funding, access to compute and research partnerships.<\/p>\n
Firebird cofounder and CEO Razmig Hovaghimian attended the signing ceremony at the Akorda Presidential Palace alongside government officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat began as a seed of an idea 180 days ago has grown into a major investment in Kazakhstan\u2019s AI future,\u201d said Razmig Hovaghimian, co-Founder and CEO of Firebird. \u201cPresident Tokayev\u2019s vision gave us the confidence to think bigger about what we can build together. With Jensen Huang here today, that ambition feels more tangible than ever. We\u2019re building the infrastructure for Kazakhstan\u2019s talent and ideas to reach the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kazakhtelecom, the nation\u2019s largest telecommunications company, has already deployed 400 NVIDIA H200 and 480 NVIDIA B300 GPUs in Astana and Almaty. <\/p>\n
Next year, the company plans to deploy more than 1,000 GPUs in the Data Center Valley, along with more than 1,000 NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs in the Ekibastuz region, serving diverse workloads with infrastructure that enterprises, developers and institutions can use at scale.<\/p>\n
AI-Native Companies Scale With Compute<\/p>\n
The nation\u2019s AI-native companies are also building out their compute capacity \u2014 and the applications that run atop them.<\/p>\n
Higgsfield is expanding its AI infrastructure with NVIDIA Vera Rubin running on cloud service providers, giving the company additional capacity as models, products and customer demand for its generative media applications grow.<\/p>\n
More local capacity gives developers and companies room to train, fine-tune and serve increasingly capable models. Successful applications, in turn, create demand for more compute.<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan\u2019s AI opportunity isn\u2019t defined by GPU counts alone. Connecting that infrastructure with developers, universities, startups and industries can turn accelerated computing into useful applications.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s announcements represent different layers of that stack \u2014 infrastructure deployment, access to compute and AI-native product development \u2014 where the AI foundation is reaching new scale.<\/p>\n
Watch the fireside chat between Jensen Huang and Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev, streamed live from Alem.AI in Astana<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/S-15-edit-scaled.jpg\")
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