A younger lady in a modern bun and a jacket with Kazakh patterns smiles from the display screen at a administrators’ assembly of Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund.
In late 2025, she turned the corporate’s latest board member.
Really useful Tales
checklist of 4 gadgetsfinish of checklist
However SKAI (or Samruk-Kazyna Synthetic Intelligence) shouldn’t be the primary lady to affix the all-male board: She is the primary synthetic intelligence programme with voting rights to assist the corporate’s push for larger transparency and higher governance.
In Kazakhstan, AI is the brand new speak of the city, and a part of its new branding and modernisation agenda to enhance public providers, entice funding and diversify the economic system past reliance on uncooked supplies.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared 2026 the “Yr of Digitalisation and Synthetic Intelligence” to introduce superior applied sciences in all sectors of the economic system, develop expertise, startups and Kazakh-language applied sciences.
In 2025, the federal government created a Ministry of Synthetic Intelligence and Digital Improvement, and final month, it accepted an motion plan via 2029 that features selling AI literacy in faculties and universities, digitalising healthcare, public providers, tax assortment and the vitality sector.
In 2025, Kazakhstan turned the second jurisdiction, after the European Union, to go a legislation governing AI.
Within the futuristic ball-shaped EXPO constructing within the capital Astana, a brand new AI museum invitations guests to wander via digital installations and robots, attempt AI fashions and immerse themselves in an otherworldly expertise.
On the close by Astana Hub, the biggest innovation cluster in Central Asia, which runs the museum, a whole lot of schoolchildren are taught programming, generative synthetic intelligence, 3D animation, and movement design – at no cost. For adults, the “Tomorrow Faculty” seeks to develop Kazakhstan’s brightest tech abilities.
“We’ve college students from 18 to over 50, coming from numerous backgrounds who sooner or later determined to alter their occupation and turn out to be IT employees,” Valeria Tio, Astana Hub’s managing director, informed Al Jazeera. “The candidate choice is strict. Of the 25,000 purposes that we have now obtained, we took lower than 2 p.c of probably the most gifted individuals.”
The candidates first play a logic and reminiscence sport to pick out these with one of the best potential. Then, throughout an intensive four-week course referred to as the “Pool”, organisers choose a pupil cohort to take part in coaching for 2 years.
Whereas Kazakhstan’s AI push has made it a pioneer within the area, it “continues to be distant from turning into a Silicon Valley, however it’s turning into a regional AI centre”, stated Yuri Misnik, chief know-how officer at InDrive, a unicorn firm actively coaching a brand new era of IT specialists in Kazakhstan.
“Due to proximity to China, Kazakhstan can have one of the best of two worlds: The western innovation and insights from the east … Just like what occurred 15 years in the past with digital transformation, the winners change the enterprise, the processes, and the enterprise fashions.”
‘An actual social elevator’
Eighteen months into the Tomorrow Faculty programme, the hub has educated 500 individuals. Some have secured jobs. This month, swimming pools open in 12 Kazakh areas.
“A lady who labored as a barista in our cafeteria discovered work as a developer after one 12 months of research. It is a actual social elevator,” Tio stated.
Astana Hub additionally has a startup incubator, which helps to create new groups, develop IT merchandise, and promote them to different markets. They associate with hubs in Dubai, Shanghai, Malaysia and the UK and intently cooperate with the federal government. Due to that, their residents pay zero tax. One p.c of their earnings goes in the direction of the hub’s growth.
Over eight years of operation, Astana Hub has helped to incubate Kazakhstan’s first unicorn firm – a privately held startup valued at greater than $1bn – named Higgsfield, a video-generating programme. By 2030, Tio stated, the hub hopes to have 5 unicorns.
On the close by Nazarbayev College, one other firm tries to interrupt new floor. The Institute of Good Methods and Synthetic Intelligence was the primary tutorial entity in Central Asia to function a supercomputer.
In 2019, scientists realised that neither of the favored AI voice assistants on the time, reminiscent of Siri or Alexa, recognised the Kazakh language. The staff determined to construct its personal nationwide product.
When the coronavirus hit in 2020, researchers inspired native Kazakh audio system and conventional toastmasters who had been at house with out work to report themselves studying texts utilizing completely different feelings to coach the brand new Kazakh mannequin. It labored: In December 2024, the corporate launched its native reply to ChatGPT.
The MagniSoz mannequin works with textual content and audio in 11 completely different languages. Oylan, an up to date model, which interprets from Kazakh into “Assume!”, works with pictures, too, in English, Russian and Kazakh.
“It has deep-thinking, reasoning and net search capabilities,” stated Yerbol Absalyamov, the institute’s government director.
“To make sure safety of knowledge, we determined to deploy it domestically on our servers. It’s accessible open supply to all Kazakhstani individuals, together with the federal government. Our work has two rules: First, AI for good, and second, AI for Kazakhstan.”
Whereas ChatGPT right now works within the Kazakh language, too, Absalyamov says an area massive language mannequin continues to be key. First, as a result of the info it collects stays inside the nation and second, as a result of it represents native tradition, historical past and traditions.
“Our mindset may be completely different from the European or North American one, so whereas creating these fashions, we acquire information that represents Kazakhstan, our individuals, tradition, historical past and identification,” he stated.
Issues over human rights, energy provide
However AI growth shouldn’t be with out points.
The choice to create massive information centres in Kazakhstan, which require secure water and electrical energy provide, has raised issues.
“Kazakhstan nonetheless imports energy at peak instances, and a big share of crops and grids are previous. In the case of the setting, the ministry stated cooling will use immersion programs quite than water, however no evaluation has but been made public,” stated Tlegen Kuandykov, programme coordinator at CAPS Unlock, an area assume tank. “Regardless of the engineering reply seems to be, that transparency hole is an actual coverage failure.”
One other potential drawback is the use – and potential misuse – of knowledge.
“Human rights are a giant challenge. The brand new AI legislation incorporates protecting language, however enforcement shouldn’t be clear but and it may not embrace critical public oversight. Biometric identification and facial recognition are being rolled out quickly,” Kuandykov stated.
