Nvidia’s Jensen Huang brings ‘sovereign AI’ push to Kazakhstan, shrugs off bubble fears

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is promoting a "sovereign AI" initiative in Kazakhstan, as the Central Asian nation becomes a focal point in the US-China AI competition. Speaking at a fireside chat in Astana with the country's AI and digital development minister Zhaslan Madiyev, Huang emphasized that AI is reshaping every industry and every person.

He highlighted that Nvidia supplies the computing foundation for AI hubs, which require vast resources such as electricity and data. Kazakhstan, which possesses extensive energy reserves, aims to transform its energy into intelligence by building AI factories. In June, the country announced a $10 billion plan involving Nvidia and US AI infrastructure developer Firebird to construct a computing hub in Ekibastuz, deploying around 100,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) with a total power capacity of up to 1 gigawatt.

The initial 50-megawatt facility is set to open in June, with the hub potentially generating $3 billion in annual computing exports. However, the region faces challenges, including unstable power grids, limited international connectivity, and regulatory barriers. Despite this, Huang is promoting AI infrastructure globally, urging governments to build domestic systems to control their data and cultural capabilities.

His efforts come amid growing skepticism about the financial sustainability of the global AI buildout, with concerns over a potential oversupply of computing hardware driving down prices and reducing returns on megaprojects.