Kazakhstan - The Times Of Central Asia

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AI Content Creation

Kazakhstani AI Creator Alissa Kamorskaya on the Rise of AI Animation

Kazakhstani model and AI content creator Alissa Kamorskaya runs Chudno, a school and agency specializing in AI-generated content. Kamorskaya began publishing AI cartoons in February 2026, and one of her videos has since received more than 30 million views on Instagram. The Times of Central Asia spoke with her about the rise of AI animation and the role of social media algorithms in driving views. TCA: You began creating AI cartoons before the format became widespread in Kazakhstan. Why do you think your most-viewed video attracted such a large audience? Alissa: I think several factors played a role. One was that when I made my most-viewed cartoons, almost no one in the post-Soviet space was using this format. I posted my first one on February 3 this year. I wanted to tell my followers how I met my husband, but I simply didn’t have any video footage to illustrate it, so I decided to turn it into a cartoon. The views quickly took off, my social media audience started growing, and I realized it was a very promising niche. AI cartoons have now become hugely popular. You can see animated videos recommended on social media getting as many as 100 million views. They have spread across social media so quickly that it feels as though AI cartoons have been around for a long time. In reality, broadly speaking, they have only been this widespread for about six months. TCA: Why does animation work so well with a mass audience? Alissa: I think it’s because animation is almost universal. Very often it doesn’t need words at all. A cartoon can be understood by someone of any age, from any country, speaking any language. Someone could be sitting somewhere in Cambodia, see the video, and still understand what is happening. So the potential audience for this kind of content is enormous. TCA: Do you see that in the geographic breakdown of your audience? Alissa: I analyzed the statistics for several videos and noticed that a lot of viewers come from Turkey and Iran. I think that is partly connected to how my characters look. They have dark hair and darker skin, so viewers in those countries may find them more familiar-looking. I often see comments in Turkish under the videos, and I can tell that people recognize themselves in these characters. Visual identification is very important here. It works much like it does in movies, or when we were children and picked a favorite character and said, “I’ll be this one.” We want to recognize ourselves in characters and identify with them. TCA: Before AI animation, you ran a conventional blog for about five years. Why did cartoons change things so dramatically? Alissa: I had been blogging for about five years, constantly filming myself, and my audience barely grew. For several years, my follower count stayed at around 3,000. Everything changed only when I switched from making what I personally liked to what interested a much wider range of people. I used...

Artificial Intelligence

Kazakhstan Navigates Rival U.S. and China AI Frameworks

Kazakhstan has found itself in an unusual position as the technological rivalry between the United States and China intensifies. Within a matter of weeks, Astana first joined the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative and then became a founding member of the Beijing-backed World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). Washington is now preparing to warn countries aligned with its AI strategy that participation in competing frameworks may be incompatible, Reuters has reported. For Kazakhstan, such a choice would be uncomfortable for more than political reasons. The United States is home to many of the world’s leading AI and semiconductor companies and offers access to investment and advanced technology. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, has critical mineral reserves that Washington is keen to bring into secure supply chains. China is next door, remains one of Kazakhstan’s leading trading partners, and offers countries without their own advanced technologies broader access to Chinese developments. Zamir Karazhanov, a political scientist and director of the Kemel Arna Public Foundation, believes Kazakhstan is unlikely to abandon cooperation with China on artificial intelligence. Much, he says, will depend on how far Washington is prepared to go and whether technological alignment becomes a condition for continued partnership with the United States. Pax Silica was launched by Washington in late 2025. Despite its name, the initiative goes far beyond silicon and chips. It covers the supply chains and physical infrastructure underpinning AI, including critical minerals, semiconductors, energy, and computing capacity. Kazakhstan officially joined Pax Silica on June 25, 2026, becoming the first Central Asian country to enter the initiative. The accession declaration was signed in Washington by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev. For Kazakhstan, participation also has a tangible economic dimension: the country has a substantial mineral resource base needed for high-tech manufacturing. The Times of Central Asia has previously examined why joining Pax Silica could help Kazakhstan attract foreign investment into mining, energy, data centers, and manufacturing for the AI economy. U.S. interest in Kazakhstan’s mineral resources predates Pax Silica. In June, Astana hosted a C5+1 critical minerals dialogue involving representatives of all five Central Asian states and U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor. The American side spoke openly about expanding cooperation with the region on secure supply chains. But in July, Astana took another step, this time toward Beijing. Kazakhstan became one of 29 founding members of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. The agreement establishing WAICO was signed in Shanghai, where the organization will also be headquartered. Beijing has presented the new organization as a mechanism for international cooperation on AI governance and narrowing the technological gap between countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping has also promoted China’s open-weight AI models as a more accessible alternative for countries that cannot afford or easily access leading proprietary systems. However, Beijing is also considering restrictions on overseas access to some of China’s leading AI models. In July, Xi Jinping pitched WAICO as part of China’s effort to advance its own model of global...

Space Center Strike

Satellite Images Suggest Damage at Russian Space Center Linked to Kazakhstan’s Baikonur

Satellite imagery purportedly showing damage from a Ukrainian missile strike at a key Russian space center is circulating online, although there is no independent confirmation of whether Soyuz rocket facilities at the site were hit. Without providing details, Russia has acknowledged that industrial infrastructure was hit in an attack late last week in the Samara region, but has not publicly identified any impact on the Progress Rocket Space Center in Samara. Ukraine says it targeted the site because it supports Russia’s war effort. The Progress facility also makes Soyuz-2 rockets that are regularly launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver spacecraft to the International Space Station. ExileNova+, a Ukrainian channel that tracks damage assessments and other aspects of the war with Russia, posted what it said was a satellite image of damage to a building involved in Soyuz rocket production. “Two hits were recorded on building 106A, where onboard electronics, control systems, cable networks, and instrument compartments for the rockets are assembled. Building 106B, where the final assembly takes place, is located nearby,” ExileNova+ said on Telegram. There was no independent confirmation of the claims about damage at building 106A. Business Insider, a U.S. publication, published a satellite image that it said shows a hole in the roof of a Progress center building, as well as damage to the exterior. The publication said the image was obtained from U.S. firm Vantor. For now, it is difficult to assess how the missile strike in Samara could affect future Soyuz launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which Russia leases from Kazakhstan. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said a launch pad at Baikonur was damaged during the liftoff of a crewed spacecraft in late November 2025 but was repaired in early 2026. Soyuz rockets then launched Russian spacecraft from Baikonur in March and April of this year. “The extent of the damage at Progress and its impact on future Soyuz launches will likely become clearer over time. Even a temporary disruption could complicate a production schedule already expected to rely on existing rocket stocks to meet growing demand,” Alison Sayer wrote in an analysis for ISR University, a team of former U.S. Department of Defense professionals, national security experts, and others. Roscosmos is a civilian entity, but Russia’s military relies on satellites and other space infrastructure provided or operated by the country’s space industry. Tracking platform Orbital Radar identifies the Russian Aerospace Forces, a branch of the Russian military, as the operator of multiple Soyuz-2 launches, including launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

AI Education

Kazakhstan Rolls Out AI Education From School to University

In the 2026-27 academic year, Kazakhstan’s first artificial intelligence university plans to enroll 600 students and trainees. AI use is also being expanded in schools, with a separate pilot planned for ten small rural schools. Kazakhstan is therefore trying to build its AI talent pipeline from both ends of the education system. Science and Higher Education Minister Sayasat Nurbek announced the first intake at Qazaq AI Research University (QAIRU) during a government meeting. Nurbek said 400 students would be admitted to bachelor’s programs, including 308 on state grants, while another 100 would join master’s programs. “In addition, the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund will send 100 of its employees to study under the MBA AI+X program,” he said. QAIRU is located in Astana on the former EXPO 2017 site, alongside Astana Hub and the Alem.ai cluster. The university says it intends to train engineers capable of building their own AI systems rather than simply using existing AI services. Its bachelor’s program lasts three years and is taught entirely in English. Education is based on the AI+X model, combining artificial intelligence with specific disciplines and industries, including healthcare and energy. The university was first proposed while the project was still being developed. Other parts of higher education are also changing. According to Nurbek, Unified National Testing (UNT) certificates are already available through eGov, and AI proctoring is in use. The National Testing Center has also launched AI-Talapker, a chatbot that answers questions about the UNT and university admissions. Key information on students and graduates is also being consolidated on the Unified Higher Education Platform. “The next stage is the introduction of artificial intelligence-based solutions into the educational process,” Nurbek said. He said these would be used for admissions and to support personalized learning and career guidance. In schools, students will encounter AI earlier in their education. Education Minister Zhuldyz Suleimenova told the same government meeting that artificial intelligence technologies will become part of the educational process in the new academic year. “One of the features of the new academic year will be the use and study of artificial intelligence technologies in schools,” Suleimenova said. AI content will be added to the existing digital literacy and computer science curricula. Separately, the government has decided to test AI tools in rural schools, where opportunities to teach individual subjects are often more limited than in large cities. The pilot will begin on September 1 in ten small schools in the Pavlodar and Kyzylorda regions, with instruction in Kazakh and Russian. AI solutions will be tested in fourth-grade classes covering mathematics, digital literacy, the native language, and AI. The pilot will expand to 50 schools in November, and another 300 schools are scheduled to join in January 2027. The pilot phase is expected to cover 500 small rural schools. Officials have assessed internet speeds and computer availability, along with staffing capacity and schools’ readiness to introduce AI solutions. More than 350,000 teachers have already received training in the use of AI in education. For rural Kazakhstan, this part of the program...

Birth Trends

Births Decline in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as Central Asian Trends Diverge

Central Asia is commonly seen as a region with a young and rapidly growing population. The region’s population is still expanding, but birth trends are beginning to diverge. In the first half of 2026, births fell noticeably in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan recorded modest increases. Excluding Turkmenistan, about 711,300 children were born in the four other Central Asian countries during the six-month period, 5.5% fewer than a year earlier. Uzbek economist Mirkomil Kholboev highlighted the differences between the countries after comparing national statistics. “Births are declining in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, while they are increasing in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan,” Kholboev noted. Uzbekistan recorded the largest decline, with the number of births falling 7.9% to 373,389. Of those, about 192,900 were boys and 180,500 were girls. The decline is not new. In 2025, about 879,600 children were born in Uzbekistan, 5.1% fewer than a year earlier. That has not prevented the country’s population from continuing to grow rapidly, reaching 38.2 million at the beginning of 2026. The Times of Central Asia previously examined why Uzbekistan’s population continues to expand even as the number of births declines. A similar picture is emerging in Kazakhstan. A total of 149,774 births were registered from January through June, down 7.1% from the same period last year. Kazakhstan’s population nevertheless continues to grow and reached 20.59 million by July 1. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are moving in the opposite direction for now. Kyrgyzstan recorded about 66,300 births in the first half of the year, up 2% from a year earlier. In Tajikistan, 121,810 children were born, an increase of 0.9%. The divergence is also notable in the wider post-Soviet context. Births have declined in Armenia and Azerbaijan as well. In Ukraine, 73,292 children were born in the first half of 2026, 16% fewer than during the same period a year earlier. Russia has sharply restricted the publication of demographic statistics since 2025, making current comparisons more difficult, although the last available figures also showed births continuing to decline. For Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the current figures do not mean their populations are shrinking. Births still substantially outnumber deaths, leaving both countries with strong natural population growth despite the decline in births. If these differences persist, their effects will extend well beyond demographic statistics. For a region with rapidly growing cities and large young populations, they could eventually mean different levels of demand for schools and universities. They could also affect labor markets and the number of new workers entering the economies of the four countries.

Camel Farming

Camel Farming Expands Across Central Asia as Climate Pressures Mount

Camels are gaining renewed economic importance in Central Asia as farmers seek new markets for their milk and governments look for livestock better suited to increasingly dry conditions. In Kazakhstan, camel numbers are rising and producers are developing markets for shubat, a fermented camel milk drink, and powdered camel milk. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has begun working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to develop camel husbandry in arid areas. Kazakhstan has more than 322,000 camels, according to government figures for 2026, an increase of 2.4% from the previous year. Most are raised in the vast arid lands in the west and south of the country. Camels are also an important part of Turkmenistan’s livestock sector. The herd numbered about 345,000 animals in 2020. Bactrian camels have traditionally dominated Kazakhstan’s camel herd. They can withstand sharp fluctuations between extreme heat and severe cold. Over the past two decades, Kazakhstan has also seen an increase in one-humped Arvana camels, a breed of Turkmen origin known for high milk productivity. In Turkmenistan, the Arvana is the mainstay of the industry. These camels can produce milk even when grazing on sparse desert pastures, feeding on salt-tolerant vegetation and bitter wormwood that are of little use to many other types of livestock. Milk Brings in the Money Milk offers camel farmers a product that can be sold throughout the year and increasingly processed into higher-value goods. A female Kazakh Bactrian camel can produce up to about 1,750 liters of milk annually, although yields vary considerably between breeds and farming systems. The main product on the domestic market is shubat, but larger producers have also begun processing camel milk for markets far beyond the communities where it is produced. One of the most prominent examples is Daulet-Beket LLP in the Almaty region. When a camel-milk processing plant opened there in 2021, the farm had around 5,000 camels and was producing up to five tons of shubat a day. The plant was designed to produce as much as 30 tons of powdered camel milk a month, with products being shipped to Russia and China. Smaller farms show how strong local demand can also sustain the industry. The Suleymanov family in the Almaty region started with two camels. By the time they were profiled in 2021, their herd had grown to around 70 animals. Sixteen were being milked each day, producing 52 to 53 liters. The family said customers frequently bought their shubat before it even reached Almaty. Camel Farming in Turkmenistan Turkmen state media has also highlighted privately run camel farms. A 2024 report said farmer Serdarkuli Berdyliev in Ahal province kept 320 camels, including 140 females. Average milk yields were around six liters a day. Information about private agriculture in Turkmenistan largely comes through tightly controlled state media. Camel milk production continues to feature in official coverage alongside the country’s long-established herding traditions. Camel wool remains a marketable product, although its market is much smaller than that for milk. In Turkmenistan, it...