Computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence has joined fossil fuel reserves and transport corridors on the list of the world’s most valuable strategic assets.
The United States, Gulf states, and China are investing tens of billions of dollars in vast data-center projects. Kazakhstan has also joined the race, developing computing capacity with an eye on neighboring markets.
For a country traditionally associated with commodity exports, the idea may seem unexpected. Yet the modern AI economy requires vast computing resources, specialized processors, reliable data centers, and, above all, large amounts of electricity. The AI market is therefore creating revenue opportunities not only for those who develop models, but also for countries able to provide the conditions in which they operate.
From Digitalization to Infrastructure
In 2024, Kazakhstan ranked among the world’s top 25 countries for e-government development and was also among the 10 countries with the broadest public access to government services.
The focus of state digital policy is now shifting. Kazakhstan has begun investing more in the infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence.
In 2025, the state-owned Samruk-Kazyna fund and the UAE-based company Presight AI developed a national supercomputing cluster. The project placed Kazakhstan 86th in the global ranking of countries operating the world’s most powerful computing systems.
This year, the government announced a partnership with NVIDIA and Firebird to develop high-performance computing infrastructure and build modern data centers. A national AI ecosystem is also being developed around Astana Hub, while telecommunications and cloud companies are expanding their own data-processing facilities.
Digitalization in Kazakhstan was previously focused mainly on the delivery of public services. The country is now building infrastructure that can be used by research institutions, businesses, and government agencies. At sufficient scale, it could serve not only the domestic market but also users elsewhere in Central Asia.
Factors Working in Kazakhstan’s Favor
If Kazakhstan intends to enter the regional market, an obvious question arises: what can it offer data-center operators and cloud-service providers?
The country’s relatively modest domestic market is not the decisive factor. For such projects, the cost and reliability of electricity, the quality of digital infrastructure, international connectivity, and conditions for long-term investment matter far more.
Kazakhstan lies between Europe and Asia and is gradually becoming part of new transregional digital routes, including the Trans-Caspian fiber-optic link. For cloud-service providers, this could mean lower data-transfer latency and easier access to customers in several countries.
The Astana International Financial Centre also offers foreign investors a legal framework based on English common law, reducing uncertainty for long-term infrastructure projects.
Electricity prices are another important factor. They remain competitive compared with many neighboring countries, while energy is one of the largest operating costs for modern data centers.
Kazakhstan’s geography, digital connectivity, investment framework, and energy resources together give it a chance to become a regional location for computing infrastructure.
Not Algorithms but Megawatts
Artificial intelligence is often associated with software, algorithms, and increasingly sophisticated language models. In reality, AI has become just as much an infrastructure business.
Training and operating systems such as ChatGPT or Gemini requires thousands of specialized processors working together in large computing clusters. Keeping those systems running demands enormous amounts of electricity.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global electricity consumption by data centers could more than double by 2030, reaching around 945 terawatt-hours, with AI expected to account for most of the increase.
Technology companies are already investing in computing hardware and power generation. Microsoft has signed long-term electricity supply agreements for its data centers, Amazon is financing new power-generation capacity, and Google has agreed to purchase electricity from future small modular nuclear reactors.
Across the industry, one conclusion is becoming increasingly clear: the principal constraint on AI development is gradually shifting from processor availability to the ability to secure reliable electricity supplies.
This is where Kazakhstan faces one of its most significant challenges.
Although the country benefits from relatively affordable energy resources, its power system is already under growing pressure. Several regions have experienced electricity shortages in recent years, while much of the country’s generation capacity and transmission network requires modernization. Average wear across the national power grid is estimated at 64-65%, exceeding 80% in East Kazakhstan, Abai, and West Kazakhstan regions.
The limitations of existing infrastructure are already becoming evident. During the summer of 2026, exceptionally hot weather and heavy use of air conditioning pushed electricity demand in Almaty, the country’s largest city and one of its main digital hubs, to record levels. A series of substation failures left several districts without power for hours.
The government is implementing programs to modernize transmission networks and generating facilities, helping to reduce the average level of infrastructure deterioration. At the same time, preparations are underway for the country’s first nuclear power plant, which is expected to become one of the long-term sources of additional electricity as demand continues to grow.
Even if these projects proceed as planned, however, the pace of AI infrastructure development will depend largely on how quickly the energy sector can accommodate new large-scale consumers. Should data-center construction outpace grid modernization and the commissioning of new generating capacity, electricity infrastructure, not computing technology, could become the main obstacle to Kazakhstan’s ambition to become a regional AI hub.
A Regional Market Rather Than a Global Race
Kazakhstan is unlikely to compete with the world’s largest players in the global AI infrastructure market. Gulf states are already investing tens of billions of dollars in artificial intelligence and building data centers designed to serve global cloud platforms. Their strategy is backed by vast financial resources and an exceptional capacity to fund large-scale infrastructure projects.
Success in this sector, however, is not determined by investment alone. Much like transport logistics, digital infrastructure develops at different levels. Some countries emerge as global hubs serving worldwide demand, while others establish themselves as regional centers focused on neighboring markets.
The latter scenario appears far more realistic for Kazakhstan. Rather than competing with Dubai or Riyadh for the world’s largest technology companies, the country could position itself as a provider of AI infrastructure for Central Asia and parts of the surrounding region.
For banks, telecommunications operators, government digital platforms, and rapidly growing technology companies across Central Asia, building dedicated AI clusters may prove prohibitively expensive. Leasing computing capacity from a neighboring country could be a faster and more cost-effective alternative.
Competition within the region, however, is already intensifying. Uzbekistan is investing heavily in its own digital infrastructure in an effort to attract international technology companies and data-center operators. Other Central Asian states are also making cloud services and AI infrastructure central elements of their national digital strategies. That means Kazakhstan’s challenge extends beyond constructing modern data centers. It must also demonstrate that businesses will find it more attractive to host and use computing resources there than elsewhere in the region.
Whether computing power ultimately becomes one of Kazakhstan’s new export industries will depend on more than technology alone. The country already possesses several important advantages: a strategic location, relatively competitive electricity prices, improving digital connectivity, and an increasingly investor-friendly regulatory environment. Recent agreements on the Data Center Valley project suggest that Astana is aiming to position itself as a regional provider of AI infrastructure rather than simply a consumer of artificial intelligence.
