A young woman in a sleek bun and a jacket with Kazakh patterns smiles from the screen at a directors’ meeting of Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund.
asserted
woman → smile → Kazyna
In late 2025, she became the company’s newest board member.
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she → become → 2025
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they → discuss → much
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But SKAI (or Samruk-Kazyna Artificial Intelligence) is not the first woman to join the all-male board: She is the first artificial intelligence programme with voting rights to support the company’s push for greater transparency and better governance.
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She → weaponise → transparency
In Kazakhstan, AI is the new talk of the town, and part of its new branding and modernisation agenda to improve public services, attract investment and diversify the economy beyond reliance on raw materials.
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AI → improve → materials
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared 2026 the “Year of Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence” to introduce advanced technologies in all sectors of the economy, develop skills, startups and Kazakh-language technologies.
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Tokayev → declare → skills
In 2025, the government created a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, and last month, it approved an action plan through 2029 that includes promoting AI literacy in schools and universities, digitalising healthcare, public services, tax collection and the energy sector.
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that → create → healthcare
In 2025, Kazakhstan became the second jurisdiction, after the European Union, to pass a law governing AI.
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Kazakhstan → become → AI
In the futuristic ball-shaped EXPO building in the capital Astana, a new AI museum invites visitors to wander through digital installations and robots, try AI models and immerse themselves in an otherworldly experience.
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museum → invite → experience
At the nearby Astana Hub, the largest innovation cluster in Central Asia, which runs the museum, hundreds of schoolchildren are taught programming, generative artificial intelligence, 3D animation, and motion design – for free.
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hundreds → run → programming
For adults, the “Tomorrow School” seeks to develop Kazakhstan’s brightest tech talents.
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School → seek → talents
“We have students from 18 to over 50, coming from various backgrounds who at some point decided to change their profession and become IT workers,” Valeria Tio, Astana Hub’s managing director, told Al Jazeera.
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Tio → have → Jazeera
Of the 25,000 applications that we have received, we took less than 2 percent of the most talented people.”
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we → receive → people
The candidates first play a logic and memory game to select those with the best potential.
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candidates → play → potential
Then, during an intensive four-week course called the “Pool”, organisers select a student cohort to participate in training for two years.
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organisers → call → years
While Kazakhstan’s AI push has made it a pioneer in the region, it “is still far away from becoming a Silicon Valley, but it is becoming a regional AI centre”, said Yuri Misnik, chief technology officer at InDrive, a unicorn company actively training a new generation of IT specialists in Kazakhstan.
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Misnik → make → Kazakhstan
“Thanks to proximity to China, Kazakhstan can have the best of two worlds: The western innovation and insights from the east …
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Kazakhstan → have → east
Similar to what happened 15 years ago with digital transformation, the winners change the business, the processes, and the business models.”
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winners → happen → business
Eighteen months into the Tomorrow School programme, the hub has trained 500 people.
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hub → train → people
Some have secured jobs.
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Some → secure → jobs
This month, pools open in 12 Kazakh regions.
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pools → open → regions
“A girl who worked as a barista in our cafeteria found work as a developer after one year of study.
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who → work → study
This is a real social elevator,” Tio said.
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Tio → say → ?
Astana Hub also has a startup incubator, which helps to create new teams, develop IT products, and sell them to other markets.
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which → have → markets
They partner with hubs in Dubai, Shanghai, Malaysia and the United Kingdom and closely cooperate with the government.
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They → partner → government
Thanks to that, their residents pay zero tax.
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residents → pay → tax
One percent of their income goes towards the hub’s development.
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percent → go → development
Over eight years of operation, Astana Hub has helped to incubate Kazakhstan’s first unicorn company – a privately held startup valued at more than $1bn – named Higgsfield, a video-generating programme.
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Hub → help → 1bn
By 2030, Tio said, the hub hopes to have five unicorns.
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hub → say → unicorns
At the nearby Nazarbayev University, another company tries to break new ground.
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company → try → ground
The Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence was the first academic entity in Central Asia to operate a supercomputer.
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Institute → operate → supercomputer
In 2019, scientists realised that neither of the popular AI voice assistants at the time, such as Siri or Alexa, recognised the Kazakh language.
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neither → realise → language
The team decided to build its own national product.
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team → decide → product
When the coronavirus hit in 2020, researchers encouraged local Kazakh speakers and traditional toastmasters who were at home without work to record themselves reading texts using different emotions to train the new Kazakh model.
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themselves → hit → model
It worked: In December 2024, the company launched its local answer to ChatGPT.
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company → work → ChatGPT
The MagniSoz model works with text and audio in 11 different languages.
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model → work → languages
Oylan, an updated version, which translates from Kazakh into “Think!”, works with images, too, in English, Russian and Kazakh.
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which → update → English
“It has deep-thinking, reasoning and web search functions,” said Yerbol Absalyamov, the institute’s executive director.
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Absalyamov → have → functions
“To ensure protection of data, we decided to deploy it locally on our servers.
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we → ensure → servers
It is available open source to all Kazakhstani people, including the government.
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It → include → government
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
