WAICO - The Times Of Central Asia

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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...

opinion

Turkmenistan and the New Geopolitics of Silicon

Central Asia is not foreign to the emerging geopolitics of silicon and artificial intelligence (AI). Kazakhstan especially has made itself noticed, joining the US-led Pax Silica initiative in June and the Chinese-led World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in July. Kazakhstan is the only country participating in both initiatives, which is characteristic of Astana’s multi-vector diplomacy. Whilst other Central Asian states have joined WAICO, Turkmenistan, consistent with its permanent neutrality stance, has joined neither. Neutrality, however, does not prevent economic participation, and a case has to be made for Turkmenistan. Two Frameworks for International Cooperation Although both initiatives respond to the same underlying reality - the growing strategic importance of artificial intelligence - they differ in scope and emphasis. Pax Silica is built around the material and economic foundations of AI, focusing on securing and coordinating the physical supply chains that make computation possible and aiming implicitly to reduce reliance on China. WAICO, by contrast, is centered on the political and normative dimension of AI, prioritizing governance, safety standards, and international coordination, where Beijing could push its rhetoric in favour of open-source artificial intelligence as a model for AI development. Taken together, they reflect two complementary but distinct ways of structuring the emerging AI order: one rooted in industrial capacity and supply-chain control, the other in multilateral rules. On that matter, Turkmenistan's possible relevance does not lie in software, semiconductor fabrication or AI regulation, but much further upstream: silicon metallurgy. From Gas to Silicon Silicon is abundant in nature, but transforming it into industrial materials is an energy-intensive process. Quartz or quartzite is used to produce both silicon ferroalloys and silicon metal. Ferrosilicon is principally consumed by the iron and steel industries, where it serves as a deoxidizing and alloying agent. Silicon metal, meanwhile, is used in aluminum alloys and chemical production, while a small share is further purified into the extremely high-purity silicon required by the semiconductor industry. Ferrosilicon should not be presented as a material that goes directly into AI chips. But establishing competitive ferrosilicon production can constitute a first industrial step into the broader family of silicon metallurgy. And Turkmenistan has already begun considering precisely that. In 2020, the Turkmen authorities reported that the Ministry of Industry was studying the production of metallurgical-grade silicon using local resources. Practical tests had already been conducted using quartz sand, metal mixtures and petroleum coke, while the government presented the development of domestic mineral resources as part of a broader strategy of industrialization and export diversification. The ambition became more concrete in January 2024. Turkmenistan's Ministry of Industry and Construction Production launched an international tender for a feasibility study for a ferroalloy plant intended to manufacture ferrosilicon, silicon carbide, and technical silicon. A 2024 feasibility study for such a project envisions a plant in Balkan Velayat capable of producing 15,000 tons of FeSi75 ferrosilicon annually. The proposed complex would operate two 12,500 kVA furnaces. Rather than depending exclusively on domestic raw materials, the study envisages sourcing quartzite from nearby Iran and...

China Artificial intelligence Digital Development Digital Infrastructure Data Center Valley Ekibastuz AI Governance WAICO

Tokayev Offers Astana to Host New Global AI Body’s First Meeting

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev put Astana forward at the opening of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 17, saying that Kazakhstan is ready to host the first meeting of a new global AI organization. He also proposed placing the organization’s Central Asian office in Kazakhstan. Together, the offers set out Tokayev’s wider aim: Kazakhstan wants a role in writing AI rules as well as building the technology at home. Twenty-nine countries signed the agreement establishing the World AI Cooperation Organization on July 16. The founding states included Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while Turkmenistan did not sign. China first proposed the Shanghai-based intergovernmental body at last year’s conference. Tokayev called the creation of the organization a historic decision and said it could underpin a universal framework for AI governance. “No country should remain merely a consumer of AI,” he said. “Every state must have the opportunity to develop its own human capital, digital infrastructure, and institutional capacity. Here too, the issue is fairness and integrity.” Tokayev also endorsed the conference’s guiding principle, “AI for good, AI for all,” arguing that technological progress should benefit people broadly rather than deepen inequalities within and between countries. His offer to host the new organization’s first meeting in Astana and to establish its Central Asian office in Kazakhstan were aimed at giving the country a role in shaping that agenda. [caption id="attachment_52389" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Image: Akorda[/caption] Astana Bids for a Role in the New AI Body Tokayev’s proposals went beyond hosting a ceremonial gathering. He called for a permanent expert platform on AI regulation, standards and ethics. He also proposed an international network of schools, centers of excellence and academic partnerships. The Kazakh president urged members to develop common standards for testing and certifying AI systems. He said safeguards should address malicious uses, including cyberthreats, deepfakes and digital fraud. AI should remain under human control, he said. Tokayev placed those proposals within his wider diplomatic agenda. He argued that AI could help spot crises earlier and improve humanitarian work and peacekeeping. He said governments spend too much effort dealing with conflicts after they begin and too little preventing them. The new organization adds another layer to Kazakhstan’s technology policy. Citing a person familiar with the U.S. position, Reuters reported that Kazakhstan is the only country listed in both the 29-member body and Washington’s AI Opportunity Statement. Kazakhstan had already joined the U.S.-backed Pax Silica framework on June 25, which covers chips, critical minerals, energy and secure AI supply chains. That overlap carries Kazakhstan’s long-standing multi-vector diplomacy into AI policy. Astana is deepening ties with China while expanding ties to U.S.-linked technology and supply chains. Tokayev’s speech showed that Kazakhstan also wants a voice in the institutions shaping global AI rules. A Digital Bridge With China In Shanghai, Tokayev also proposed a “Kazakhstan-China Digital Bridge.” He said the project should promote digital trade and provide a working model for connecting digital economies through the Belt and Road Initiative. He asked China to support...