Central Asian nations are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, positioning the region as a critical link between Europe and Asia. Kazakhstan is developing a 125-megawatt data center that will house 100,000 Nvidia chips by 2027, a project designed to establish the country as Central Asia's primary advanced computing hub.
Uzbekistan is moving in parallel. DataVolt, a Saudi Arabian firm, is developing TAS-1, a 12-megawatt AI-ready green data center in Tashkent, structured as the first phase of a larger build.
DataVolt secured up to $150 million in non-recourse financing for TAS-1 from a consortium that includes DEG, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the OPEC Fund and Proparco. The non-recourse structure shifts project risk to lenders while enabling faster capital deployment—a financing approach that signals lender confidence in the asset without exposing DataVolt's balance sheet.
Uzbekistan's Ministry of Digital Technologies confirmed TAS-1 as the initial phase of a broader data center development. The country is also launching a hyperscale data center development zone in Karakalpakstan to attract additional global technology investment.
Uzbekistan has partnered with Nvidia to create an AI Center of Excellence, an arrangement that includes training programs and initial infrastructure. Two AI clusters from that partnership are projected to reach about one megawatt of capacity by 2026.
Kazakhstan has built its digital ambitions around several parallel tracks: an AI ecosystem centered on alem.ai, a Data Center Valley construction program and the AKASHI project, which has established a baseline for hyperscale execution in the country.
Both nations offer regulatory sandboxes, tax incentives and innovation zones to attract technology capital—standard tools for building competitive moats around emerging digital economies.
The economics of large-scale AI data centers depend on high utilization rates and efficient energy sourcing. Cloud margins for AI compute services require favorable terms on both hardware and power. Kazakhstan's planned 100,000-chip deployment represents a substantial capital commitment to high-performance computing capacity.
Kazakhstan currently holds the stronger position in advanced computing density. Uzbekistan is closing the gap through strategic financing and partnerships, presenting itself as the region's next AI infrastructure destination.
These projects will succeed or fail on three variables: sustained capital inflows, domestic talent development and the ability to plug into global digital supply chains.
