The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of Kazakhstan, Zhaslan Madiyev, presented the strategy for forming a national artificial intelligence ecosystem during a press tour organized as part of the AI & Digital Bridge 2026 forum.
Artificial intelligence has become a priority in Kazakhstan's public administration sector. The country established a specialized Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, and the Council for Artificial Intelligence Development operates under the President. The national strategy 'Digital Kazakhstan' is planned until 2029.
In addition to infrastructure development, a special law on artificial intelligence and a digital code have been adopted, demonstrating the authorities' intention to proactively form a regulatory environment. Of particular note is the composition of the presidential expert council, which includes representatives from the international scientific and industrial community, such as researchers from Stanford University and Google, as well as leaders of major technological ecosystems in the Middle East and Asia. This indicates a desire to integrate Kazakhstan's technological agenda into the global context rather than relying solely on local personnel.
The technological foundation of the national strategy is based on several interconnected levels. In 2025, two supercomputers were commissioned in the country: Alem.cloud, which ranked 86th in the global TOP500 ranking, and Al-Farabium, which was ranked 103rd. Both systems run on NVIDIA H200 processors.
Thanks to the computing power of these systems, national language models have already been developed: KazLLM with 70 billion parameters, AlemLLM with 246 billion parameters, and the compact model Sherkala with 8 billion parameters. This allows the country to create solutions for tasks requiring large resources as well as for applied needs.
Great attention is paid to energy and information infrastructure. A so-called 'Data Center Valley' is being created near the city of Ekibastuz with a declared energy capacity of up to 1 GW, an electricity cost of 2.5 cents per kWh, zero tax rates for residents, and signal latency to Europe within 57–70 milliseconds. These parameters can be considered a competitive advantage compared to the energy limitations of traditional data centers in Europe and Asia.
Telecommunications infrastructure is also expanding. By 2027, it is planned to provide fiber-optic coverage to 92% of rural settlements and increase 5G network coverage to 60–75% of the territory.
Another direction is increasing transit traffic. It is expected that Kazakhstan's share in transcontinental routes, including the Trans-Caspian route and the pan-Eurasian main route, will increase from 1.5% to 5%, strengthening the country's position as a digital bridge between Europe and Asia.
The digitalization of the state administration itself occupies a significant place in the strategy. According to UN data, Kazakhstan ranks 10th in the world in the online services index and first among CIS countries, while in the e-government development index among 193 countries, the country is ranked 24th.
In practice, this is reflected in the eGov ecosystem, which combines over 1300 public services and 40 types of digital documents. Approximately 92% of services are available online, and the share of cashless payments reaches 87%. An additional layer of AI-based tools has been implemented on top of the eGov platform, including the eGov AI assistant and the alem.gpt chatbot integrated into government services.
According to the Network Cybersecurity Index (NCSI), Kazakhstan ranks 38th in the world and first in Central Asia. This highlights the country regionally, where issues of digital security often remain less relevant to the state agenda.
Special attention is paid to the AI-Sana program, designed as a comprehensive specialist training system covering education from school level to retraining existing professionals. Its components include integrating AI disciplines into the school curriculum through the 01.AI project, cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holding specialized competitions, as well as corporate and management tracks such as AI Governance 500, AI Corporate, and AI Leaders.
Simultaneously, a network of 20 regional innovation hubs is operating across the country, indicating efforts to spread the benefits of the digital economy beyond the capital. The Alem.ai complex in Astana serves as the institutional embodiment of this strategy. The eight-story building with a total area of 22,000 square meters is designed as an integrated educational and research ecosystem.
The complex includes a public space and the Singularity Museum, the opening of which is scheduled for April 2026, the TUMO Astana 'Tomorrow School' for teenagers, which provides round-the-clock AI training, the QAIRU research university, launch of which is set for September 2026, the ai’preneurs startup campus, as well as laboratories of international technology companies, including Telegram, Yandex Kazakhstan, Freedom, G42/Presight, and Firebird.
According to the stated goals, the ecosystem is designed to train 1000 AI specialists annually, support 100 startups, and host about 200,000 visitors.
The strategy relies on the existing venture infrastructure. Astana Hub brings together 2500 technology companies that have attracted over $1 billion USD in investments and created 35,000 jobs. The country's IT product exports reached $1.1 billion USD in 2025 to more than 100 countries. The Alem.ventures of funds manages capital amounting to $115 million USD, while Kazakhstani innovation offices are already open in Malaysia, the United States, the UAE, and China. This means that the country is not only a recipient of investment but is also building its own presence in foreign markets.
Parallelly, a regulatory framework for digital financial instruments is being developed. It includes mechanisms for crypto payments, asset tokenization, including real estate and uranium deposits, issuance of a stablecoin backed by the tenge, and the creation of a state crypto reserve with an expected value of over $300 million USD.
To attract foreign specialists and investors, Kazakhstan has introduced electronic residency and digital nomad regimes. More than 8000 visas have been issued under these programs.
Collectively, these initiatives form a consistent industrial policy within which the state acts simultaneously as a regulator, investor, infrastructure developer, and operator of an educational platform. Kazakhstan aims to establish itself as a regional center for artificial intelligence development by utilizing available energy, its geographical location at the junction of Europe and Asia, and its readiness to rapidly adapt the legal framework to the needs of the sector.
However, a significant portion of the presented indicators remains a target. This is especially true for the deadlines for achieving planned 5G coverage, increasing the share of transit traffic, and the number of trained specialists. Against this background, the key question for the next one or two years will be the degree to which the stated goals are supported by sustainable practical results.
