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.
Image: Akorda
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 naming 2027 a Year of Joint AI Initiatives in both countries, and called for faster use of AI in manufacturing, mining, energy, agriculture, healthcare and water management.
The proposal followed a large commercial package signed during Tokayev’s Shanghai visit. Kazakhstan and China announced more than 70 documents worth over $15 billion on July 16. The package includes agreements and memoranda, meaning the headline figure does not represent funds already invested.
Technology featured prominently. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development signed a strategic partnership with Huawei, while Kazakhtelecom and China’s Hengtong Group agreed on basic principles for developing the Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz. Other documents covered robotics and research, with one agreement addressing the use of AI in vehicle production.
Tokayev presented the Ekibastuz project to Chinese executives on July 16, calling it a “key pillar of the digital infrastructure of Kazakhstan and all of Central Asia.”
Image: Akorda
From Coal Power to Computing
In Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan’s AI ambitions are beginning to take physical form. The northern industrial city grew around coal mines and giant power stations, but its industrial base has not been enough to keep people there. Ekibastuz lost more than 1,000 residents in 2025, reflecting the wider population decline across northern and eastern Kazakhstan as younger workers leave in search of better jobs and services. But new investment may offer the city a different future.
Crews have started excavating pits for modular data-center blocks. The first 125-megawatt facility is planned for the first half of 2027, followed by another of the same size in 2028. Later phases could take the site to one gigawatt by 2033. The government says the wider project has attracted more than $10 billion in foreign investment, but it has not explained how that figure relates to the $10 billion package of AI agreements announced in June. The June package involved U.S. companies Firebird and NVIDIA, with NVIDIA presenting technology for the Ekibastuz development.
The plan reaches beyond server halls. It is intended to include AI laboratories, research facilities, training programs and startups. The first facilities are expected to create more than 1,500 temporary construction jobs and over 250 permanent positions.
The project also shows the scale of Tokayev’s ambition. Data centers need reliable electricity, cooling, fiber links and expensive chips. Kazakhstan has abundant energy resources, but it still imported nearly 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours from Russia to cover a power shortfall in 2025. At full load around the clock, the first two facilities, with a combined capacity of 250 megawatts, could consume about 2.19 billion kilowatt-hours a year.
Building the Domestic Base
Tokayev has spent the past year pushing AI toward the center of state policy, setting a goal of turning Kazakhstan into a “fully digital nation within three years.” The country created a dedicated AI ministry and declared 2026 the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence.
In June, Tokayev approved the Digital Qazaqstan strategy through 2029. Kazakhstan has also adopted an AI law and a Digital Code. The new Constitution guarantees the protection of personal data, a point Tokayev repeated in Shanghai.
The domestic program also extends beyond Astana. A UN ESCAP digital solutions center planned for Almaty is expected to employ up to 130 staff, with Kazakhstan covering up to $15 million in operating costs over five years. Tokayev also promoted Alatau as a fully integrated digital city designed to attract technology companies and investors.
Tokayev’s Shanghai address connected those domestic projects to a larger international role. Astana wants the new AI organization’s first meeting and its Central Asian office. Tokayev also wants a bilateral digital bridge with China and continued cooperation with the U.S. and access to U.S.-linked technology.
The offer gives Kazakhstan an opportunity to shape the global AI agenda, but its influence will depend on whether projects such as Ekibastuz move from excavation to operation, and whether the country can turn AI investment into lasting technical capacity and practical gains at home.
