Global Ambition: Kazakhstan Aims to Join International Collaboration on Artificial Intelligence
Dialing in on the AI Revolution: Kazakhstan's Ambitious Plans
Egypt's digital hub, Astana, played host to a significant event - the AI Action Summit in Paris. Amid this congregation of AI enthusiasts, Kazakhstan announced its plans to join the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) on February 10-11. This exciting news was shared by no other than the Minister of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace Industry, Zhaslan Madiyev, according to the ministry's press service [1].
GPAI: A Shared Vision
GPAI is an extraordinary collaborative initiative that champions the responsible development of AI, ensuring it aligns with human rights and democratic values of its member nations. This collaborative endeavor was kickstarted by Canada and France back in 2018 and launched into action in 2020. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is the proud host of this international partnership [2].
At the Summit, Kazakhstan was one of seven countries expressing avid interest in joining GPAI, joining the ranks of Cambodia, Malta, Romania, Croatia, Rwanda, and Morocco. All in all, the event was attended by representatives from 44 countries.
Progress and Potential
Minister Madiyev showcased Kazakhstan's commendable strides in digital transformation and AI development, touching upon the Alem.AI center - a hub designed to spur innovation, fuel startup growth, and bolster AI research.
"We're dead-set on nurturing human talent through extensive educational programs that aim to train 200,000 citizens annually in AI skills, ranging from schoolkids to government officials," Madiyev declared [3].
During the event, Madiyev had the privilege of engaging with global AI experts, including Fei-Fei Li, the creator of the pivotal ImageNet dataset for computer vision, and Yann LeCun, the Chief AI Scientist at Meta. Discussions centered around large language models, Kazakhstan's KazLLM (Large Language Model Meta AI), and potential innovations in cloud computing [4].
Building Ties, Forging the Future
A series of fruitful meetings took place, with Serbian Minister of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation Jelena Begović expressing interest in Kazakhstan's AI strategies and plans for a potential visit to Astana. On the other hand, Quentin Adam, founder of Clever Cloud, discussed the possibility of establishing a Clever Cloud R&D lab in Kazakhstan, focusing on cloud computing.
In a remarkable meeting, OpenAI's top brass was left impressed by Kazakhstan's AI advancements, proposing a technical session with OpenAI developers [5].
As of now, though Kazakhstan's formal acceptance into the GPAI is still pending [1], the nation's tentative entry signals an exciting era, full of promise and groundbreaking innovations in AI.
[1] Recent statements and available information suggest that Kazakhstan has expressed interest or applied to join the GPAI but has not yet been officially confirmed as a new member as of early June 2025.
[2] Nations such as Türkiye were accepted as full members of the GPAI at the end of 2024.
[3] Kazakhstan's comprehensive educational programs aim to train 200,000 citizens annually in AI skills.
[4] Discussions centered around large language models, Kazakhstan's KazLLM, and potential innovations in cloud computing.
[5] OpenAI's top management suggested organizing a technical session with OpenAI developers.
Kazakhstan's announcement to join the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) signifies its intent to collaborate with other nations in responsible AI development, aligning with human rights and democratic values. With plans to train 200,000 citizens annually in AI skills, Kazakhstan's technology-driven ambitions hint at potential advancements in artificial intelligence.
