Nvidia to build $10 billion “valley” in Central Asia

On June 15 this year, Kazakhstan signed agreements to build a large data processing center with the participation of U.S. startup Firebird and Nvidia Corporation. Bloomberg reported this, citing Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development.

The project envisages the creation of a Data Center Valley in the city of Ekibastuz, located in the northeast of the country. The first stage is estimated at $5 billion, of which $1 billion will be financed by state-owned Kazakhtelecom. The commercial launch of the facility, with a capacity of 125 megawatts, is planned for 2027.

On June 15, Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting with Nvidia Vice President Rev Lebaredian and Firebird co-founders, CEO Razmig Hovaghimian and Alexander Yesayan. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhtelecom Board Chairman Bagdat Mussin and U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Julie Stufft.

The parties discussed the development of national artificial intelligence infrastructure, the creation of high-performance computing capacities, the deployment of modern data centers and the attraction of international technology partners.

Olzhas Bektenov emphasized that the development of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure is one of Kazakhstan’s key priorities.

“One of the important digital projects currently being implemented is the Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz. Our goal is to create a platform for hosting global digital infrastructure. We highly value the agreements reached with Firebird and Nvidia,” he said.

During the meeting, large land reserves, incentives for investors and competitive electricity prices were noted as the main advantages of the project. It was also emphasized that the project has significant expansion potential. The existing capacity of 300 megawatts is planned to be gradually increased to 1 gigawatt.

Firebird CEO Razmig Hovaghimian said Kazakhstan has great potential for developing digital infrastructure.

“The launch of the project in 2027 will place Kazakhstan among the world’s top 10 countries. We have a strong team and huge opportunities. We are pleased to work with the Government of Kazakhstan, Nvidia and our partners in the United States to help achieve the country’s goals,” Hovaghimian said.

According to Kazakhstan’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev, a large computing cluster based on 100,000 modern GPU chips will be created in the country as part of the project. These will include NVIDIA GB300 and Vera Rubin generation chips.

According to him, the $10 billion investment will generate at least $3 billion in annual export revenue, create new jobs, attract major technology companies and strengthen Kazakhstan’s position as an important digital hub in Eurasia.

At the end of the meeting, cooperation agreements worth a total of $10 billion were signed in the field of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. These included an agreement on strategic cooperation between Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and Firebird, as well as an agreement between KT-Telecom and Firebird defining the key terms for developing the Data Center Valley.

For reference, Firebird is a U.S. company specializing in artificial intelligence infrastructure, data centers and high-performance computing systems. The company implements projects in various regions of the world and works with leading technology partners such as Nvidia.

According to Kazakhtelecom head Bagdat Mussin, the construction of the Data Center Valley will be fully provided by Kazakhstan. Firebird, in turn, will be responsible for supplying expensive server equipment and attracting major international IT companies.

The project will be implemented in two stages. The first stage is expected to use 109 megawatts of energy, while the second stage will use 136 megawatts. The IT infrastructure to be created will cover an area comparable to several large stadiums.

Earlier, Kazakhstan tested a flying taxi for the first time in Central Asia.