U.S.-based cloud and infrastructure technology company Firebird is set to take part in the construction of Kazakhstan’s planned “data center valley” in Pavlodar Region, as Astana seeks to expand the computing capacity needed for domestic artificial intelligence projects.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov outlined the plans during a joint session of parliament last week, saying Kazakhstan needed its own large-scale computing infrastructure rather than relying on foreign platforms.
Bektenov said all government data is currently stored in a 6-megawatt data center in Astana. The next step, he said, is a sharp increase in capacity at Ekibastuz, an energy hub in Pavlodar Region.
“We will launch a 125-megawatt data center in Ekibastuz in the first half of next year, and in 2028 we will commission another identical 125-megawatt facility,” Bektenov said.
He added that international technology companies had already shown interest in the project and confirmed that Firebird had agreed to participate in the development of the so-called data center valley.
According to Bektenov, Firebird, which specializes in AI infrastructure and high-performance computing systems, plans to participate in a project valued at about $10 billion.
“The main partner of this company is NVIDIA, and we view these companies as reliable strategic partners. A $10 billion investment from Firebird alone is highly significant,” Bektenov said.
NVIDIA’s involvement gives the project much of its weight. It is the world’s leading supplier of advanced chips used to train and run AI models. The company’s graphics processing units have become central to the global AI boom. In October 2025, it became the first publicly traded company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion.
Kazakhstan’s government said in a statement that partnerships with companies such as Firebird and NVIDIA would strengthen the country’s “digital sovereignty” and create a foundation for AI computing. Officials have also presented the project as a future source of export revenue, with computing power sold to international clients.
Power supply will be central to the project’s viability. The government has said 300 MW of power capacity is already available for the Ekibastuz project, with phased expansion planned to 1 GW. That gives the site an obvious advantage, but it also ties Kazakhstan’s AI ambitions to one of the country’s main coal-power centers.
Kazakhstan has also secured agreements with other foreign investors as it expands its data center ambitions. Singapore’s GK Hyperscale Ltd is building two data centers in the Akmola and Karaganda regions, while China’s SuperX AI Technology Limited is considering a 1-gigawatt AI data center cluster in Kazakhstan.
The projects are part of Kazakhstan’s broader strategy to position itself as a regional hub for digital infrastructure and AI computing in Central Asia. For now, much of the ambition remains at the agreement and construction stage.
