Kazakhstan proposes EAEU network of AI laboratories to boost industrial cooperation

Kazakhstan has proposed the creation of a network of industrial artificial intelligence laboratories across the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), aimed at accelerating digital transformation and improving cross-border technological cooperation.

The initiative was presented at a forum in Astana, where officials and experts discussed the role of AI in shaping competition, sovereignty, and data governance within the bloc, according to state agency Kazinform.

The proposal was introduced by Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, Dmitry Mun, who said the country’s national AI platform is already widely used in governance and public services.

According to him, government officials have used the system more than one million times for routine tasks, while citizens have accessed AI-assisted digital services over 2.5 million times.

Mun said the next phase would focus on integrating artificial intelligence into the real economy, supported by a national “data atlas” containing more than 7,000 parameters. However, he noted significant disparities in digitalisation levels across sectors, ranging from up to 95% in social services to much lower levels in industry and agriculture.

To address these gaps, Kazakhstan proposed establishing joint AI laboratories at universities across EAEU member states, including Eurasian Economic Union countries such as Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

The initiative would involve sharing anonymised sectoral data and developing small language models capable of operating locally within industries and agriculture, even without continuous internet access.

Participants in the discussion reportedly supported the idea, stressing the importance of unified standards, data protection, and digital sovereignty to enable effective AI integration across borders.

As a pilot project, Kazakhstan also proposed the creation of an AI-based legal assistant to help citizens navigate legislation across EAEU states in their native languages and assist businesses with administrative procedures such as taxation and company registration.

Officials say Kazakhstan is already expanding its domestic AI infrastructure through platforms such as Smart Data Ukimet and supercomputing projects including alem.cloud and AI-Farabi, alongside new education programmes aimed at training AI specialists.