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Kazakhstan has joined Firebird's Global AI Infrastructure Network as the company's second market, with a 125 MW Data Center Valley facility under construction in Ekibastuz. The project, built with state-owned Kazakhtelecom, is part of a $10 billion package of AI agreements signed by the Kazakh government, Firebird, and NVIDIA.

The announcement came at the opening of Firebird's AI campus in Razdan, Armenia, attended by Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, NVIDIA representatives, US government officials, and global tech investors. Kazakhstan has received official clearance for the project and US Bureau of Industry and Security export licenses for the advanced technologies involved.

What the Ekibastuz project includes

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said the two sites will serve as shared infrastructure for the region. "Together with Firebird, we are building AI infrastructure in Armenia and Kazakhstan to provide researchers, startups, and industry with computational foundations for AI development, attracting global innovators and integrating into the global AI economy."

Madiyev said Kazakhstan is building its own AI ecosystem, using its energy resources, land, and digital infrastructure to host large-scale computing capacity. The country is also advancing the Trans-Caspian fiber-optic line to create a high-speed data route to Europe, which would strengthen the case for large data centers and AI projects in the region.

Work is underway on safe data hosting rules, regulatory frameworks, and incentives to attract international tech companies, Madiyev said.

Firebird's 2 GW target

Firebird plans to reach 2 GW of AI infrastructure capacity by 2028 across Armenia, Kazakhstan, and other countries. NVIDIA has also announced plans to invest in the company.

Why this matters for IT and development professionals

IT and development professionals in the region will see new demand for skills in data center operations, GPU cluster management, and network engineering as the Ekibastuz facility comes online. The US export licenses mean NVIDIA's latest hardware will be deployed in Kazakhstan, so local teams working with Firebird and Kazakhtelecom will need hands-on experience with current-generation AI infrastructure rather than older stacks.

For developers outside the region, the Trans-Caspian fiber route creates a new low-latency corridor between Central Asia and Europe worth watching when planning data-heavy deployments.