Firebird, a US-based AI infrastructure company, is building a 125-megawatt computing facility in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan, as part of the country's push to develop domestic AI infrastructure. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev announced the project during the opening of Firebird's first AI campus in Hrazdan, Armenia, on August 8. The project positions Kazakhstan as the company's second major market and a contender in the global AI economy.
The Data Center Valley project
Firebird is developing the Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz with Kazakhtelecom as the project operator. The facility has an initial capacity of 125 MW and has received approvals from the Kazakh government and an export authorization from the US Bureau of Industry and Security for the required technology. The project is part of a larger plan, announced earlier this year, to build a computing hub in the region that could scale to one gigawatt of capacity and attract around $30 billion in investment.
Kazakhstan has been discussing the hub with major international technology and investment companies, including Microsoft, OpenAI, G42, and Mubadala. The project runs alongside Firebird's Armenian facility, which the company describes as the region's largest operational AI factory based on NVIDIA's DSX architecture. Firebird plans to expand its Armenian infrastructure to more than 70,000 NVIDIA Rubin and Blackwell GPUs and 300 megawatts of capacity by the end of 2027.
Why Ekibastuz
Kazakhstan's energy resources give it a potential advantage in hosting large computing facilities. The government is also upgrading digital infrastructure, including the Trans-Caspian Fiber Optic Cable between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, a submarine connection that will provide a high-speed data route toward Europe. These efforts, combined with local regulation and talent development, aim to build multiple layers of an AI ecosystem simultaneously.
"Kazakhstan has the necessary energy base, territory and developed digital ecosystem to host large computing capacities," Madiyev said. "Our task is not only to attract global technology partners, but also to create a complete environment within the country for the development of artificial intelligence, research, startups and new digital services."
Firebird plans to bring its total global AI infrastructure capacity to two gigawatts across Armenia, Kazakhstan, and other markets by the end of 2028. NVIDIA announced plans to invest in Firebird, and CoreWeave has also invested previously. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang spoke at the Armenia opening: "Together with Firebird, we are building AI infrastructure in Armenia and Kazakhstan that will provide researchers, startups and industry with the computing foundation to develop artificial intelligence within their countries."
For IT and development professionals watching the global AI infrastructure build out, this project signals a shift. The growing number of Generative AI and LLM workloads requires massive, energy-intensive computing capacity. Private investment from companies like Firebird, along with government-backed infrastructure like the Data Center Valley, creates new demand for developers and engineers who understand how to build and manage AI facilities. This is not just about installing GPUs or scaling networking equipment. It's about working across energy infrastructure, cloud architecture, and AI frameworks to deliver compute at these volumes. Professionals who can integrate these domains will be in demand.
For IT and Development professionals, the key takeaway is that cloud-native infrastructure and AI data centers are becoming a core part of national economies. The Data Center Valley is part of a regional shift that will require specialized talent in high-performance computing, GPU orchestration, and data center automation. The growing commercial AI infrastructure market, backed by governments and private capital, creates demand for cloud, devops, and MLOps skills. This is an industry that will need engineers who build and operate the fabric supporting AI innovation.
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