Kazakhstan and Nvidia-backed Firebird Partner for Up to $10 Billion AI Deal

Kazakhstan has signed a strategic cooperation package with US-based, NVDA-backed startup Firebird to build large-scale AI infrastructure worth up to $10 billion, one of the largest technology commitments ever announced in Central Asia. The centerpiece is a project dubbed Data Center Valley in the country's northeast, aimed at establishing the region's first major AI hub.

The first phase calls for roughly $5 billion of investment, including $1 billion from state-owned Kazakhtelecom, with a 125-megawatt power plant slated to begin commercial operation next year. The deal aligns with Kazakhstan's strategy to diversify its economy beyond hydrocarbons and mining toward sovereign computing capacity and a domestic digital-innovation ecosystem.

For NVDA, the agreement extends its accelerated-computing footprint into a new geography and adds another sovereign-AI customer to a growing list. Execution risk is meaningful: power delivery, financing close and regulatory follow-through will determine whether the headline $10 billion figure translates into deployed capacity.