Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation between the Astana International Financial Centre,Kazakhtelecom Joint Stock Company,Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School, and Shervin Pishevar together with Sofreh Capital, Edison and Alpha.
The memorandum provides for building an ecosystem in Kazakhstan that brings together computing capacity, international capital, engineering expertise and an industrial base. The partnership aims to create conditions in which Kazakh and international teams can develop technologies, launch manufacturing and build companies for the global market.
The signing of the memorandum was preceded by a statement from Shervin Pishevar at the AI & Digital Bridge 2026 international forum. Speaking at the session THE NEW ECONOMY: POWERED BY AI,the investor announced his intention to open officesinKazakhstan, relocate his company here and invest in the country’s development. Among Kazakhstan’s advantages, he cited its engineering talent, government support for innovation, and its industrial and resource base, and pointed to the success of Higgsfield as an example of international recognition of Kazakhstan’s technological potential.
The partnership also builds on Kazakhstan’s existing cooperation with Network School. Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School project has already begun operating in Kazakhstan. With the launch of the initiative, more than 240 members of his team and of the international tech community arrived in the country.
The memorandum sets out the areas for further joint work – from training specialists and attracting international teams to creating companies, financing them, developing infrastructure and deploying technologies in industry.
The memorandum’s central infrastructure pillar is theDigital Silk Roadjoint venture.
Sofreh Capital, the investment holding company founded by Shervin Pishevar, will serve as a founding partner of the Digital Silk Road joint venture. In collaboration with the Ministry and Kazakhstani partners, Sofreh will lead the structuring of the venture, attract international capital and technology partners, and help develop Digital Silk Road into an integrated AI infrastructure company connecting data centers, space-based computing infrastructure, satellites, and the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Cable Line.
The memorandum’s central infrastructure pillar is theDigital Silk Roadproject.
The memorandum establishes a framework for developing new technology industries in Kazakhstan and bringing the infrastructure projects already under way into a single ecosystem. These include computing capacity and data centers, telecommunications and space infrastructure, robotics and Physical AI, new energy solutions, critical materials, and the attraction of international technology capital. These areas are viewed as building blocks of a new economy capable of creating products and technologies in Kazakhstan for the global market.
“Kazakhstan has the resources, the expertise and the scale of projects to become one of the world’s technology powers. To that end, the Head of State has made the development of a new economy a national priority, with a targeted allocation of financial, infrastructure and human resources. We are already advancing major projects – the Data Center Valley and the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Cable Line – developing the space industry and laying the foundation for new technology manufacturing.
“One of the key areas is the AI token economy, in which our energy resources are converted into computing capacity, and computing into artificial intelligence services for the global market. We see AI tokens as the future ‘currency of access to intelligence’: Kazakhstan can become a major producer and exporter of this new digital resource, generating high added value on the basis of its own energy potential.
“Another strategic area is Physical AI – artificial intelligence that controls robots, equipment and autonomous systems in the real world. Our mining, metallurgy and other industries give us a competitive advantage: industrial data and real-world sites on which, together with leading technology companies, we can build industry-specific AI models and bring these solutions to the global market.
“New opportunities are also opening up in space technologies and commercial launches, the processing of critical minerals for semiconductors and batteries, the crypto industry, autonomous transport and the low-altitude economy. Alatau City and the international IT talent ecosystem should become magnets for entrepreneurs, engineers and capital, driving the development of these industries.
“By bringing these areas together, we can build the Digital Silk Road, along which Kazakhstan will supply computing, technologies and intelligent products to global markets. The vehicle for implementing this strategy could be an international AI technology holding capable of uniting key projects, attracting large-scale capital and creating joint ventures with global technology leaders. Our ambition is to build on this foundation a global business with a market capitalization of over $100 billion that will strengthen Kazakhstan’s technological standing and create new sources of long-term prosperity for the country,” said Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development.
Kazakhstan’s industrial base makes it possible to position the country as a platform for developing, testing and scaling such technologies. The cooperation envisages exploring pilot projects, testing grounds, robot assembly and component manufacturing. Other promising areas include space technologies, small-scale nuclear energy, quantum computing and new materials.
The financial component of the partnership provides for exploring the establishment of aventure fund in the AIFC jurisdiction to invest in companies operating in Kazakhstan or basing their business here.Any participation by national development institutions will be determined by those institutions independently, in accordance with established procedures.
In parallel, the parties planto establish a venture studio affiliated with Sofreh Capital to systematize the incubation of new entitiesas well as a Kazakhstanarm of the Alpha platformto launch and grow new companies.
"Kazakhstan is interested not only in attracting capital, but also in creating conditions in which international technology companies and investors can build long-term projects here. The AIFC provides the legal and financial infrastructure needed for this. Our task is to serve as a bridge between international capital and Kazakhstan's investment opportunities," said Renat Bekturov, Governor of the AIFC.
A key role in this part of the cooperation belongs to Kazakhtelecom JSC, the national telecom operator and a company of the Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund group. The company owns and operates Kazakhstan’s backbone fiber-optic infrastructure and data center network, and represents the Kazakh side in the construction of the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Cable Lineas part of Digital Silk Way.
“We are building a Data Center Valley and AI infrastructure with a capacity of hundreds of megawatts. Kazakhtelecom has an extensive communications infrastructure, including the Trans-Caspian fiber-optic line. But Kazakhstan’s potential is far greater.
“If all of this is brought together into a single system, backed by large-scale venture investment and strong technological expertise, an entirely new picture of the future could emerge. In the long term, we can even talk about launching data centers into space from Kazakhstan. But to get there, it is important to move systematically, step by step,” said Bagdat Mussin, Chairman of the Management Board of Kazakhtelecom JSC.
Another area of cooperation is the development of trusted supply chains for the AI industry and advanced technologies. The parties intend to facilitate investment in automation, robotics and Physical AI, the space industry, quantum computing, energy and the critical materials sector.
The training of specialists for these new areas is to be developed with the participation of Network School. The approach is built on the practical skills that technology companies need, engagement with Kazakhstan’s universities and research organizations, and support for the commercialization of research and development.
“Shervin Pishevar has invested in dozens of unicorns, including Uber, Airbnb, Slack, Instacart, and Doordash. He’s setting up Sofreh Capital in Kazakhstan to help incubate the Digital Silk Road JV as well as other companies in the broader Central Asian region. We’ll collaborate with him and the government of Kazakhstan to help recruit and train any talent they need, from Kazakhstan and from around the world.” saidBalaji Srinivasan , founder ofNetwork School (ns.com).
As part of the cooperation, the partners also intend to build infrastructure that will enable entrepreneurs to launch companies directly from Kazakhstan. Shervin Pishevar announced plans, together with Balaji Srinivasan, to help attract up to10,000 new entrepreneursto the country and to provide them with the infrastructure to launch companies.
“Kazakhstan has everything it takes to lead the AI age: world-class human capital, a highly educated workforce, extraordinary natural resources, and the leadership, ambition, drive and work ethic to build at global scale.
Together with our partners, we are launching the Digital Silk Road, a joint venture to build Eurasia’s leading AI infrastructure company integrating AI compute, power and connectivity infrastructure linking data centers, space data centers, satellites and the Trans-Caspian fiber-optic network.
We will promote frontier-technologies spanning automation, robotics, physical intelligence, nuclear power, space, quantum computing and critical materials sectors in Kazakstan. We will build a vertically integrated full stack of the new economy: AI data centers on the ground and in orbit, space launch and satellite manufacturing, and the energy and computing of the future, from small modular and micro-nuclear reactors to quantum computing.
We are also launching a Kazakhstan venture fund and venture studios, so that global companies can be invented and built right here in Kazakhstan. And with Balaji Srinivasan and the Network School, we aim to bring 10,000 entrepreneurs to Kazakhstan and give them everything they need to build the next Higgsfield, the world-class AI company born here. For Kazakhstan, the sky is no longer the limit. It is the stars”said Shervin Pishevar.
The memorandum also provides for a phased exploration of basing the Pishevar group’s investment operations in the AIFC and of bringing its portfolio companies, employees and teams to Kazakhstan. Decisions on establishing a presence will be made by each company independently.
Within 100 days of signing, the parties intend to agree on a plan for implementing the cooperation.
The memorandum is a framework document: specific projects, investment volumes and the terms of each party’s participation will be determined by separate agreements.
