Kazakhstan to launch joint AI venture with China’s 01.AI

Kazakhstan plans to expand its use of artificial intelligence services and will establish a joint venture with the Chinese company 01.AI in March. According to Zhaslan Madiyev, minister of artificial intelligence and digital development of Kazakhstan, the new entity will operate the National Artificial Intelligence Platform.

«Partnership with world-class specialists will be a tool for developing artificial intelligence in the public and quasi-public sectors,» Madiyev said, noting that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev supports the idea of partnering with 01.AI.

01.AI is a Chinese artificial intelligence company founded by Kai-Fu Lee, a Taiwanese computer scientist and investor. The company is currently promoting its open-source artificial intelligence model Yi-34B, its flagship product and an analogue of ChatGPT.

«This approach will give Kazakhstan access to advanced technologies for creating AI agents, which can significantly improve the efficiency and speed of management decision-making,» Madiyev underlined.

However, it remains unclear whether the ministry intends to use the company’s existing product or pursue the joint development of a new sovereign artificial intelligence model.

Kazakhstan has been seeking to introduce AI into its public administration system and has become the second country in the world to formalize the concept of a national AI platform in its Digital Code.