Firebird Secures U.S. License for 45,000 NVIDIA GPUs for Kazakhstan AI Build-Out

Firebird, a U.S.-based AI infrastructure company, has secured a U.S. export license for 45,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs for its build-out in Kazakhstan, NVIDIA said in a post published Oct. 22, ahead of CEO Jensen Huang's first visit to the country on Oct. 23. Firebird also signed an investment agreement with the Kazakh government at the Akorda presidential palace on Oct. 23, and the first phase of its AI facility is under construction with national operator Kazakhtelecom at the Data Center Valley project, with commercial launch targeted for the third quarter of 2027.

Industry background

Firebird first moved into Kazakhstan in June, when it signed strategic cooperation agreements with the government in Astana covering AI infrastructure, advanced computing, cloud services and research. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Deputy Prime Minister and AI and Digital Development Minister Zhaslan Madiyev and NVIDIA Vice President Rev Lebaredian took part in that signing, according to Firebird. The company did not disclose capacity or GPU counts at the time.

The company's base is in Armenia, where it opened an NVIDIA-based AI factory in Hrazdan in August. In that announcement, Firebird named Kazakhstan as its second market, with 125 megawatts secured at Data Center Valley, and set a global pipeline target of about 2 gigawatts by the end of 2028. It also said NVIDIA intends to invest in the company, following an earlier investment by CoreWeave.

Data Center Valley sits in Ekibastuz in the Pavlodar region, a coal and power hub in northeastern Kazakhstan, according to reporting by The Times of Central Asia on the June agreements. Under the current arrangement, Kazakhtelecom supplies power, cooling and telecommunications infrastructure, while Firebird's Kazakh unit finances the computing hardware, the outlet reported on Oct. 24.

Industry implications

The export license is the most concrete element of the week's announcements. Shipments of top-tier U.S. accelerators to Central Asia require Washington's approval, and a license sized at 45,000 Grace Blackwell GPUs moves the Kazakhstan project from a memorandum stage toward procurement. It also shows that U.S. authorities are willing to approve large deployments in countries outside the traditional hyperscale markets when a U.S. company controls the hardware.

The deal follows a familiar sovereign AI template. A national telecom operator contributes land, power and connectivity, a specialized cloud builder brings capital and NVIDIA systems, and the government provides policy backing. Kazakhstan declared 2026 its year of digitalization and artificial intelligence, and Huang's visit closed the country's AI Month. For enterprises and public agencies in the region, local GPU capacity would reduce reliance on distant cloud regions for training and inference workloads.

Huang framed the opportunity around energy. He said Kazakhstan could convert its energy into intelligence and export it, rather than exporting only raw energy, according to The Astana Times. That pitch places the project alongside a growing number of compute sites chosen first for power availability.

Competitive and supply chain implications

For NVIDIA, Kazakhstan adds another national deployment as demand broadens beyond U.S. hyperscalers. The company is now positioned at several layers of the local market: as GPU supplier to Firebird and Kazakhtelecom, as an investor in Higgsfield AI, and as a planned investor in Firebird itself. Kazakhtelecom's plan to install more than 1,000 NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs in the Ekibastuz region in 2027 points to a mixed fleet of current and next-generation systems.

Firebird competes with larger neocloud operators for GPU allocations, financing and power. Its approach targets markets where governments offer sites and grid access in exchange for domestic capacity. Execution risk sits in the supply chain: liquid-cooled rack systems, high-voltage electrical gear and networking equipment remain in tight supply worldwide, and the 2027 launch target leaves little room for delays in deliveries or construction.

Partners that supply power and cooling at Data Center Valley stand to benefit if the second phase proceeds. Neither NVIDIA nor Firebird disclosed the investment amount, equipment vendors or construction contractors for the Kazakhstan facility.

Regional implications

Kazakhstan is positioning itself as a compute hub between Europe, China, the Middle East and South Asia. The government has created a dedicated AI ministry and the Alem.AI international center in Astana, where Huang held a fireside chat with Madiyev. According to NVIDIA, Firebird also plans to establish Firebird Labs Kazakhstan to support local startups, research and talent.

Ekibastuz is one of Kazakhstan's main power-generation centers, which gives the project access to existing grid infrastructure. The heavy reliance on coal in the regional power mix could draw scrutiny from international customers with emissions targets, and the companies have not said how the facility will be supplied. Higher electricity demand from a 500-megawatt-scale campus would also need to be balanced against domestic consumption.

The deployment extends a U.S.-aligned AI supply chain into Central Asia. Armenia and Kazakhstan now form the core of Firebird's regional footprint, giving the company two licensed sites in a region where access to advanced chips is tightly managed.

What comes next

• Shipment of Grace Blackwell systems under the export license and installation at Data Center Valley.
• Kazakhtelecom deployment of more than 1,000 GPUs at Data Center Valley and more than 1,000 Vera Rubin GPUs in the Ekibastuz region in 2027.
• Commercial launch of Firebird's first phase in Kazakhstan, targeted for the third quarter of 2027.
• A decision on the second phase that would bring total potential capacity to about 500 megawatts.
• Details on financing, anchor customers and the power supply for the Ekibastuz site.

Sources

• NVIDIA: Kazakhstan Expands Compute for Its AI Future
• Firebird: Firebird and Government of Kazakhstan Sign Strategic Agreements
• Firebird: Firebird Opens the Region's Largest AI Factory and Announces Global Expansion
• The Times of Central Asia: Huang Backs Kazakhstan's AI Plans as NVIDIA Expands Partnerships

Image: Ekibastuz GRES-1 power station in Kazakhstan's Pavlodar region, by Druschba 4 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Cropped and edited by Credence Research.