Firebird.ai, a US-based AI infrastructure company, has obtained a US export licence for 45,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell graphics processing units destined for a data centre built with Kazakh telecoms operator Kazakhtelecom.
The first phase is under construction at Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz, with commercial operations targeted for the third quarter of 2027.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang met Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on 23 October, telling him the country has the energy base and scientific talent to become "a global hub for Physical AI."
Huang framed the opportunity as a conversion of Kazakhstan's energy exports into computing power, telling officials the country could "transform energy into intelligence and export intelligence."
The planned cluster could deliver up to 109 megawatts of capacity in its first phase, rising toward roughly 500 megawatts once a second phase is complete, with Firebird estimating total investment at $5 billion.
The deal follows a broader $10 billion AI-infrastructure plan Kazakhstan announced with Firebird in June, built around a proposed national cluster of about 100,000 advanced GPUs.
Firebird CEO Razmig Hovaghimian said Tokayev's vision "gave us the confidence to think bigger about what we can build together."
The project carries geopolitical weight: Kazakhstan joined Washington's Pax Silica initiative in June, but its parallel membership in China's competing WAICO programme had raised doubts over continued eligibility, before Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Central Asian states were free to work with either bloc.
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