Nvidia clears 45,000 GPUs for Firebird’s Kazakhstan data center

Kazakhstan is about to receive a very large delivery of computing power. Nvidia announced that Firebird, a US-based AI infrastructure firm, has obtained a US export license to ship 45,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs to the country. The chips will power the first phase of an AI data center project in Kazakhstan. The timing was deliberate: the news landed while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was in the country for meetings at the highest level of government. What Firebird is building The project is a partnership between Firebird and Kazakhtelecom, the country’s telecom operator. The site is the Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz. Commercial operations are expected to begin by Q3 2027. The 45,000 GPUs cover only the initial phase. Firebird’s later phases could push total AI infrastructure capacity to approximately 500 MW. Nvidia made the announcement on October 22-23, 2026. The news coincided with Huang’s visit, which included a signing ceremony for Firebird’s investment agreement. Huang goes to Astana On October 23, Huang sat down with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana. The talks focused on deepening collaboration between Nvidia and Kazakh companies. Kazakhstan awarded him the O...