Kazakhstan has taken a major step in its ambition to lead the digital future by officially launching the most powerful supercomputer in Central Asia. The new system, housed at the Alem.cloud Supercomputer Center in the capital, Astana, is expected to accelerate the country’s progress in artificial intelligence (AI) and e-government services, while strengthening its technological sovereignty.
2 Exaflops Power: A New Digital Giant
The newly launched supercomputer boasts a computational capacity of approximately 2 exaflops – that’s two quintillion (10^18) operations per second. This formidable system will serve two key purposes: enhancing state-run e-government platforms and powering the development of advanced AI models.
The project was personally inaugurated by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has championed the development of AI infrastructure and signed the Concept for AI Development in Kazakhstan until 2029. The president emphasized that this move is not only technological but also strategic, aiming to place Kazakhstan among the global AI leaders within the next four years.
KazLLM and Language Sovereignty in AI
One of the flagship projects tied to the new supercomputer is the Kazakh Language Large Model (KazLLM), a large language model (LLM) designed to preserve and promote the Kazakh language in the age of AI. Experts have warned that excessive reliance on Western AI tools could endanger non-Western languages. Kazakhstan has responded by building its own AI ecosystem, which now includes six additional supercomputers spread across universities for research and development.
While KazLLM initially focuses on text, future plans include voice recognition, image processing, and multimodal AI technologies. These steps aim to ensure the Kazakh language and culture are integrated into the future of AI.
Security Concerns and the Challenge of Brain Drain
Despite the excitement, the launch comes amid growing concerns about data security and talent retention. Just last month, a major data breach affected the personal information of up to 16 million citizens, raising questions about digital infrastructure resilience.
Boris Potapchuk, Senior Expert at Nazarbayev University, noted that maintaining such a complex system requires continuous software updates and highly qualified specialists. However, Kazakhstan faces a significant brain drain, particularly in the IT sector, making local capacity-building a top priority.
Foreign experts are largely restricted from working on the system due to national security concerns, especially since the supercomputer will store sensitive state and citizen data.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Zhaslan Madiyev, reinforced that digital development is now as critical as energy or food security. “The launch of the national supercomputer center is a strategic step toward ensuring our technological sovereignty,” he stated. “We are building an AI ecosystem capable of competing globally.”
