Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Astana on Friday, Oct. 23. At alem.ai, he met students and startups and joined Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev to discuss Kazakhstan’s AI future, Nvidia said. CNBC reported that it was Huang’s first visit to Kazakhstan and that he joined Madiyev, who is also minister of artificial intelligence and digital development, for a fireside chat.
At the chat, Huang said Kazakhstan could become a major AI computing hub serving Europe, according to CNBC. “It’s going to be a hub, a computing hub, an AI factory hub for all of Europe,” CNBC quoted him as saying. The report also said Huang urged countries to develop domestic AI infrastructure adapted to their languages and cultures. His description of a European hub was a forecast, not a report that one had been built.
alem.ai describes itself as an international AI center in Astana and lists programs for students, startups and researchers. As background to the visit, CNBC reported that Kazakhstan’s government announced plans in June for a $10 billion AI infrastructure investment with Firebird, targeting a cluster of 100,000 advanced GPUs, including Nvidia chips. Those figures describe the announced plan, not completed spending or deployment.
CNBC also reported that AI video startup Higgsfield said Nvidia and investment firm TCV had invested in an extension of its Series B funding round; Higgsfield did not disclose the amount. Its co-founder, Yerzat Dulat, described Kazakhstan as becoming Central Asia’s AI hub to CNBC, a separate outlook from Huang’s Europe-focused forecast.
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