OMM Redaksiyası
Kazakhstan is stepping up efforts to develop artificial intelligence and establish itself as a regional technology hub, combining state-backed programmes with private-sector investment and local innovation.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has declared 2026 the “Year of Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence”. The initiative aims to introduce advanced technologies across the economy, expand skills training, support startups and develop technologies in the Kazakh language, according to Al Jazeera.
The government established a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development in 2025 and recently approved an action plan extending to 2029. The plan includes AI education in schools and universities, as well as the digitalisation of healthcare, public services, tax collection and the energy sector.
Kazakhstan also became the second jurisdiction after the European Union to adopt legislation governing AI in 2025.
Training a new generation of technology workers
At Astana Hub, Central Asia’s largest innovation cluster, schoolchildren receive free training in programming, generative AI, 3D animation and motion design. The hub also runs the “Tomorrow School” programme for adults seeking to enter the technology sector.
“We have students from 18 to over 50, coming from various backgrounds who at some point decided to change their profession and become IT workers,” said Valeria Tio, managing director of Astana Hub.
The programme has received 25,000 applications, with fewer than 2 percent of candidates selected. Participants first complete logic and memory tests before entering a four-week selection course known as the “Pool”. Those selected then undergo two years of training.
About 500 people have completed 18 months of the programme, with some finding jobs in the sector. Training pools are now being opened in 12 regions of Kazakhstan.
Astana Hub also operates a startup incubator and works with technology hubs in Dubai, Shanghai, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. Its residents pay no tax, while 1 percent of their income supports the hub’s development.
Over eight years, the hub has helped incubate Kazakhstan’s first unicorn, Higgsfield, a video-generation company valued at more than $1 billion. Tio said the hub hopes to have five unicorns by 2030.
Developing Kazakh-language AI
Researchers at Nazarbayev University’s Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence are also developing domestic AI products. The institute, the first academic entity in Central Asia to operate a supercomputer, began work on a Kazakh-language voice model after finding that popular assistants such as “Siri” and “Alexa” did not recognise Kazakh.
During the coronavirus pandemic, researchers asked Kazakh speakers and traditional toastmasters to record texts in different emotional tones. The recordings were used to train the language model.
In December 2024, the company launched MagniSoz, a model that works with text and audio in 11 languages. An updated version called Oylan — meaning “Think!” — can also process images and operates in Kazakh, Russian and English.
“To ensure protection of data, we decided to deploy it locally on our servers. It is available open source to all Kazakhstani people, including the government,” said Yerbol Absalyamov, the institute’s executive director.
He said a domestic large language model remained important because data would stay inside Kazakhstan and the system could reflect the country’s culture, history and traditions.
Concerns over energy and rights
Experts caution that the expansion of AI infrastructure could put pressure on Kazakhstan’s electricity and water systems. Large data centres require reliable supplies, while the country imports electricity during peak periods and many power plants and grids are ageing.
“When it comes to the environment, the ministry said cooling will use immersion systems rather than water, but no assessment has yet been made public,” said Tlegen Kuandykov, programme coordinator at the local think tank CAPS Unlock.
He also raised concerns about data use, biometric identification and facial recognition. Although Kazakhstan’s AI law contains provisions intended to protect rights, the mechanisms for enforcement and public oversight remain unclear, Kuandykov said.
