NVIDIA chief backs Kazakhstan’s ambition to export AI computing

Kazakhstan targets Europe’s AI market with major data centre plansKazakhstan aims to become a major European hub for artificial intelligence computing and infrastructure, NVIDIA founder and chief executive Jensen Huang said on Friday during his first visit to Central Asia, as the country seeks to develop its own AI capabilities and export computing power to international markets. “We are going to be a hub, a computing hub, an AI factory hub for all of Europe,” Huang said, referring to Kazakhstan’s ambitions and the development of Data Center Valley (DC Valley), an AI computing cluster under construction in Ekibastuz, north-east Kazakhstan. Huang made the remarks during a fireside chat with Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister and minister of artificial intelligence and digital development, at the alem.ai International Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Astana. The discussion concluded Kazakhstan’s AI Month programme, while Huang’s visit also included a tour of the centre earlier in the day. “Kazakhstan is the first country I’ve visited where the president declared AI development a national priority,” Huang said. Much of the discussion focused on artificial intelligence as economic infrastructure, rather than simply a collection of applications and digital tools. Huang argued that countries should avoid exporting their data only to import AI systems developed elsewhere using that information. Instead, he said, national AI infrastructure should become as fundamental as electricity grids, telecommunications networks and the internet, with foreign technology complementing domestic capabilities rather than replacing them. Kazakhstan aims to apply this approach across Central Eurasia, moving the region from being a purchaser of foreign technology to a producer of AI systems for global markets. The strategy relies on expanding computing capacity, developing engineering talent and supporting local technology companies. Freedom invests in Kazakhstan’s AI infrastructure Freedom Holding Corp, the parent company of brokerage platform Freedom24 and listed on Nasdaq under the ticker FRHC, is also investing in Kazakhstan’s AI infrastructure. In November 2025, the company signed an agreement with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development to develop a $2 billion Sovereign AI Hub powered by NVIDIA infrastructure, on a site with 100 megawatts of available electricity capacity. Freedom is the project’s principal financing and implementation partner. During Huang’s visit, Freedom Holding chief executive Timur Turlov met the NVIDIA chief at the alem.ai centre and presented the group’s international technology ecosystem. Its businesses span banking, brokerage, insurance and telecommunications, alongside lifestyle services covering ticketing, travel, e-commerce and food delivery. The two sides discussed a joint project to develop AI infrastructure in Kazakhstan. In Astana, Freedom is building Akashi, a Tier IV data centre campus designed to provide capacity of up to 100 megawatts. Turlov said the holding company would shortly complete an order for its first computing cluster based on NVIDIA’s B300 chips. The cluster is due to launch in 2027 as a public graphics processing unit (GPU) cloud for businesses and developers. At the end of the meeting, Turlov highlighted Kazakhstan’s growing pool of technology talent, pointing to technologies already developed in e-commerce and financial services. Combined with the country’s own AI infrastructure, he said, this talent was becoming one of Kazakhstan’s principal advantages in the global digital transformation. Data Center Valley targets international demand DC Valley is being developed by national telecommunications operator Kazakhtelecom, with NVIDIA and US-based AI cloud company Firebird serving as technology partners. The first 50-megawatt facility is scheduled to open in June 2027, with the wider site designed to expand in stages to as much as one gigawatt of capacity. Capacity for the first 215-megawatt phase has already been fully reserved. In June, Kazakhstan signed agreements worth up to $10 billion with NVIDIA and Firebird linked to the project. Kazakhtelecom plans to install more than 1,000 NVIDIA Vera Rubin graphics processing units in the Ekibastuz region next year. NVIDIA also included its Kazakhstan announcements among its “NVIDIA in Europe” updates from GTC Berlin this week, highlighting the country’s ambitions to develop an AI computing ecosystem serving international customers. Robotics and talent also feature in strategy Physical AI, including robotics, autonomous systems and the use of artificial intelligence in manufacturing, energy and transport, was another central theme of the visit. Kazakhstan’s industrial base offers potential applications for these technologies across several sectors. Ride-hailing company inDrive and autonomous driving technology firm Pony.ai are exploring a robotaxi service, with Astana intended to be the first city, using NVIDIA’s autonomous driving platform. Developing people and businesses capable of building AI systems was another priority discussed during the visit, including training engineers, supporting startups and connecting local founders with international markets. NVIDIA also joined an extension of the Series B funding round for Higgsfield on Friday. Higgsfield is an AI video platform co-founded by Kazakh engineer Yerzat Dulat, whose Almaty office is based at the Astana Hub technology park. The investment adds to the growing links between Kazakhstan’s domestic technology ecosystem and international AI companies as the country seeks to combine infrastructure, skilled workers and local businesses to compete in the global market.