Industrial AI Reaches Kazakhstan’s Factories, but Many Projects Remain Experimental

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already monitoring mining trucks, production lines, and workplace safety at industrial sites in Kazakhstan. Yet a gap remains between a successful experiment and technology that works every day at a factory or mine. Closing it was one of the main issues discussed at the third meeting of Kazakhstan’s Council for the Development of Artificial Intelligence. A study by the British Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, with contributions from Narxoz University and the Kazakh-British Technical University, found that 58.8% of AI projects among the industrial companies surveyed remained at the pilot stage, with none reaching full-scale deployment. The sample was small, comprising just 17 executives and specialists from several industrial sectors, so its findings cannot be extrapolated to Kazakhstan’s entire industrial sector. The responses illustrate the problems companies encounter after their first experiments with AI. Respondents most often cited a shortage of in-house specialists and expertise, followed by implementation costs. Yet 70.6% of completed pilots cost less than $50,000. The greater expense can come when the technology has to be integrated with existing equipment, data, and production processes. The government’s 2025–26 roadmap covers 41 projects at 11 major industrial enterprises. They include Qarmet, which operates the country’s largest steelworks in Temirtau; copper producers Kazakhmys and KAZ Minerals; gold producer Solidcore Eurasia; and mining and metals group Eurasian Resources Group (ERG). Industrial AI Acceleration has become one testing ground for deploying artificial intelligence directly at industrial sites. More than 12 companies submitted over 140 problems for AI teams to tackle, including equipment maintenance, safety, and procurement. Of 24 pilot projects initiated under the program, seven have reached industrial operation. Some technologies have already made it onto factory floors and into mines. ERG uses its manufacturing execution system, ERG MES, to monitor production in real time. It collects data on output, technological processes, production losses, and equipment downtime. The Ministry of Industry and Construction estimates the economic effect at around 1.5 billion tenge, or approximately $3.39 million at the official exchange rate on October 2. At KAZ Minerals’ Aktogay copper mine in eastern Kazakhstan, AI is used to manage the movement of mining trucks. Solidcore Eurasia uses the technology in medical examinations for employees working in hazardous production environments. The Council also discussed the bureaucratic obstacles that can hold up successful projects. After a pilot, companies can face further approvals and testing, along with procurement and regulatory hurdles. Tokayev proposed avoiding the entire testing cycle again when a solution has already demonstrated results at a company operating under similar production conditions. The government and Samruk-Kazyna are to select companies for wider AI deployment. Samruk-Kazyna is Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, which manages state assets across major industries. The government also wants production workers to identify problems for developers. Engineers and operators see equipment downtime, product defects, and wasted materials firsthand. These problems are to form a list of practical challenges for technology companies and researchers. The list is intended in part to guide Qazaq AI Research University, a specialized university...

Kazakhstan and South Korea to Establish Rare Metals Research Center in Almaty

Kazakhstan and South Korea are establishing a joint research and technology center in Almaty to support the development of Kazakhstan’s rare metals and critical minerals industry. The Kazakh-Korean Center for Rare and Rare Earth Metals will be established at Satbayev University in partnership with the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and the Korea National Institute of Rare Metals. During a meeting on July 9, representatives of the three institutions discussed how the project will be carried out. They also reviewed the purchase of modern laboratory equipment and long-term scientific and technological cooperation. The center will train specialists for Kazakhstan’s growing rare metals industry and give local researchers access to modern analytical and processing equipment. It will also support joint research with international partners. “The combined scientific potential of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Korea will enable the implementation of modern technologies for processing strategic raw materials, expand scientific research, and train world-class specialists,” Satbayev University Rector Meiram Begentayev said. According to the university, the facility will become Kazakhstan’s first full-cycle scientific and technological platform dedicated to developing, testing, and commercializing environmentally friendly technologies for the production of high-purity and ultra-high-purity rare and rare earth metals. The center will also conduct fundamental and applied research and pilot new technologies for processing mineral and industrial raw materials. The initiative is part of Kazakhstan’s effort to become a major supplier of critical minerals. Demand is rising from electric vehicle makers and renewable energy companies, while semiconductor and defense industries are also increasing their need for rare metals. Speaking at the C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue in Astana on June 10, Minister of Industry and Construction Yersaiyn Nagaspayev described critical minerals as a strategic priority for Kazakhstan’s industrial policy and long-term economic development. He said the country has more than 9,500 mineral deposits, including over 100 containing rare and rare earth metals. Nagaspayev has previously said Kazakhstan is capable of supplying 19 of the 50 critical raw materials identified by the United States and 21 of the 34 minerals included on the European Union’s critical raw materials list, positioning the country as an increasingly important participant in global supply chains. Kazakhstan already produces strategic materials including beryllium, titanium, tantalum, niobium, rhenium, antimony, bismuth, selenium, and tellurium, both as primary metals and as components used in advanced industrial applications.