Astana, 23 October. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received NVIDIA founder and president Jensen Huang, who proposed turning Kazakhstan into a global hub for physical artificial intelligence (Physical AI), and awarded him the Order of Dostyk, first class, for his contribution to the development of artificial intelligence in the country.
According to Akorda, the NVIDIA chief praised the President's goal of turning Kazakhstan into an AI nation, a state focused on developing and introducing artificial intelligence everywhere. "To develop artificial intelligence you need above all energy resources and people with knowledge in science, mathematics and technology. Kazakhstan has significant potential in each of these areas," Huang said.
He also described the results of cooperation over the past year: "We are developing partnerships with Kazakh companies, including Firebird AI KZ Ltd and Kazakhtelecom, and supporting Higgsfield, Kazakhstan's first technology unicorn, which has become a notable player in the global technology ecosystem." "This is only the beginning of a long journey," the NVIDIA chief added. Physical AI is the field in which AI controls robots, machines and other devices in the real world; at a meeting at Alem.ai that morning Huang called it the future largest industry in the world.
What it means: The NVIDIA chief's visit ended with a meeting with the head of state and a high award. The idea of making Kazakhstan a Physical AI hub remains a proposal for now: the Akorda statement contains no specific agreements, sums or deadlines.
Who benefits: NVIDIA's Kazakh partners named by Huang — Firebird AI KZ Ltd, Kazakhtelecom and Higgsfield; NVIDIA, which gains access to energy and a market for its computing systems; the "AI state" programme, which gets backing from one of the industry's leading figures.
Background: Huang made his first visit to Kazakhstan on 23 October at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of AI and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev; the same day NVIDIA and TCV announced investments in Higgsfield.
List of sources used: Akorda
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
