Kazakhstan’s Data Center Valley project in Ekibastuz could attract up to $250 billion in investment and generate $1 trillion in economic activity, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in an interview with journalist Adil Baltabayev, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to Huang, 300 megawatts of power capacity have already been allocated to the project. The long-term plan envisions expanding the data center infrastructure to five gigawatts. “Each gigawatt is $50 billion, and Deputy Prime Minister Madiyev has declared that the data center valley will eventually have five gigawatts.
Five gigawatts is $250 billion of investment, and it will generate a trillion dollars of economy,” Huang said. He emphasized that investment in Kazakhstan’s data center infrastructure could grow far beyond the initial several billion dollars over time. The NVIDIA chief also praised President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s vision of transforming Kazakhstan into an AI nation.
“President Tokayev declared Kazakhstan to be an AI nation. His vision, his aspirations, his ambition for his nation to engage and to build the AI ecosystem and the AI economy here in Kazakhstan is impressive, and it is visionary,” Huang said. He highlighted Kazakhstan’s natural resources and human capital as key advantages in the development of artificial intelligence.
According to Huang, the country’s strong foundation in science, technology and mathematics, combined with its energy resources, creates significant opportunities for growth. “Mr. President is absolutely right that this is an enormous opportunity that you have to take advantage of,” he added.
Huang also expressed enthusiasm about NVIDIA’s partnership with Kazakhstan. Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that during his October 23 meeting with President Tokayev, Huang proposed turning Kazakhstan into a global hub for Physical AI.