Zhaslan Madiyev highlighted the particular importance of hosting the largest hackathon in Astana to develop artificial intelligence in Kazakhstan. More than 6,000 people registered for the hackathon, and about 2,000 attended the opening ceremony.
He said companies capable of competing internationally are already emerging in Kazakhstan.
“We see that Kazakhstan has very talented young people, and there are growing startups,” he stated. “Today, over 2,000 startups are registered in the country. The country’s homegrown unicorns have already started to emerge.”
The minister cited Kazakh AI startup Higgsfield as an example.
“Higgsfield AI is our pride. Young talents who managed to put Kazakhstan on the world map among the best tech startups, AI startups. And today we can rightly be proud of it as the only AI unicorn in our vast region,” he said.
He said global experience shows a first unicorn can spark a new wave of technology companies.
“We hope that the Higgsfield AI phenomenon will serve as the best example for you, and that you, as future founders and entrepreneurs, will produce your own unicorns and decacorns, and strive to become genuine founders and entrepreneurs,” he told hackathon participants.
Developing the AI ecosystem
Zhaslan Madiyev also outlined plans to build an ecosystem to train specialists and create technology companies in Kazakhstan.
“We want to emulate the success story of Astana Hub, which was born in Astana, is present in every region of Kazakhstan, and has even expanded beyond the country,” he said. “Today Astana Hub operates in Silicon Valley, Shanghai, Dubai, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia.”
Madiyev added that the President’s project Alem.ai would follow the same path, developing regionally and globally.
He also recalled that classes began on 1 September at Qazaq AI Research University, a specialised university that forms part of the ecosystem.
The minister called on participants to use the opportunities available in Kazakhstan to launch their technology companies.
“Now you are to use these opportunities and build your own startups, your own unicorns,” he said. “I would also like to urge you to aim even higher — to create companies worth $1 billion, $10 billion, $50 billion, and to strive to create a truly public company, to go public through an IPO, as the giants of Silicon Valley do.”
Zhaslan Madiyev said Kazakhstan needs economic diversification and development of new technology sectors.
“Together with you, we are creating a new economy, creating a crypto industry, an aerospace sector — a country with IT talent. A country where the new Alatau City will develop — an innovative digital city. A country where the economy of new professions will develop. These are drones, flying taxis, flying cars,” he said.
He added that the skills and knowledge participants gain today could have a long-term impact on the growth of their AI-driven projects.
HackAlem AI winners are to be announced during Digital Bridge, which runs from 1 to 3 October.
Participants will get access to OpenAI resources worth up to $1 million. Winners will receive an additional $100,000 in OpenAI API tokens. The total cash prize pool is $100,000.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that NVIDIA CEO and founder Jensen Huang will visit Kazakhstan for the first time as a special guest of AI Month.