Crossroads Asia | Economy | Central Asia

6 Months Into Kazakhstan’s Year of AI

What have the national platform, AI law, and human capital programs delivered?

On June 15, Kazakhstan took another major step in its large-scale AI push, signing a $10 billion package of agreements with Firebird and NVIDIA to build the Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz, including a planned cluster of 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs. The deal forms part of a broader strategy that began in 2025 with the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, followed by the declaration of 2026 as the “Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence,” the passage of Central Asia’s first comprehensive AI law, and the rollout of large-scale training programs and a National AI Platform. The country has also sought to raise its profile by hosting the region’s largest tech and AI event to date, the GITEX AI Central Asia & Caucasus forum.

Six months into the Year of AI and Digital Development, the question is not whether Kazakhstan has launched enough initiatives, but whether those initiatives are beginning to form a functional system.

Early signs of use are visible in public services, from crime forecasting to fraud detection. A presidential decree is pushing AI into secondary schools, with pilots expected this fall. However, like many digital and reform initiatives across the region, the gap between ambition and measurable outcomes remains wide. In most countries, government platforms that fail to open up to external developers and third parties in their early stages often struggle to develop into vibrant innovation ecosystems. So far, Kazakhstan has built the shell of such a system, but not yet the network effects that would make it self-sustaining.

Kazakhstan’s AI strategy is built around a centralized model. In 2025 the country created a dedicated Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, giving digitalization Cabinet-level status. An AI Development Council chaired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev provides political direction and has become a visible feature of the government’s digital agenda.

The main policy framework is the Concept for the Development of Artificial Intelligence for 2024–2029. It rests on three priorities: infrastructure, human capital, and regulation. The Data Center Valley is intended to anchor the infrastructure side and attract foreign investment and computing capacity.

This centralized model also reflects Kazakhstan’s desire to avoid fragmentation across ministries while presenting a coherent framework to international partners. At a time when China is expanding its AI and digital footprint across Central Asia, Kazakhstan is trying to capture investment without becoming dependent on any single external technology partner.

Among Central Asian countries, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have AI legislation that entered into force in January 2026. Kyrgyzstan is developing its framework through a Digital Code, while Turkmenistan and Tajikistan have made significantly less progress. As Kazakhstan was the first to adopt a comprehensive framework, it has a modest lead in regulatory development. The open question is whether that lead translates into real investment and implementation or remains largely on paper.

The Kazakh AI law adopts a risk-based approach. It classifies AI systems according to their potential impact: higher-risk applications are subject to audits, while synthetic content must be clearly labeled. The law also places clear responsibility on both developers and operators. It gives formal status to the National AI Platform as a controlled environment for building, training, and testing systems before deployment. The law also creates channels for priority sectors to access government computing power and curated data libraries. 

A roadmap was approved in January, and some subordinate rules including classification criteria have already been issued, but the harder implementation work is still ahead. For now, the law’s impact is mainly procedural: agencies and firms are adjusting compliance processes, and pilot projects have clearer legal ground. The real test will come with the remaining secondary legislation, which will determine how enforceable the framework actually is

However, many of the risks are embedded in the institutional design itself. While the AI law emphasizes principles such as transparency and accountability, operational mechanisms for auditing high-risk systems and ensuring meaningful oversight remain underdeveloped.

The National AI Platform is Kazakhstan’s main attempt to build sovereign AI capacity rather than depend entirely on foreign systems, and is meant to provide a secure state-controlled space for model development, training, and testing, while also managing data libraries and access to computing resources.

So far, the platform’s most visible activity has been inside the government. Several pilots are using AI tools to assist civil servants with routine tasks, and........

© The Diplomat