In the morning light of the ancient city at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, silicon-based intelligence is quietly crossing the intercontinental border. When algorithms across the ocean meet the hardcore computing power of East Asia, totems of old and new interweave on the loess slopes of Almaty. The logical vine of software spreads along the Silk Road, while the steel base of hardware deeply penetrates the Eurasian hinterland. A reshaping of digital geopolitics is quietly unfolding at the intersection of wind and light.

OpenAI officially enters the Central Asian market and lands in the Almaty AI Industrial Park in Kazakhstan. The project is laid out with software services as the first priority, and hardware computing facilities are planned and constructed synchronously, marking the comprehensive launch of the sub AI ecosystem layout.

Software penetration cultivates ecosystem

In June 2026, the Almaty Municipal Government reached a deep cooperation agreement with OpenAI to promote the construction of AI parks. Currently, more than 500 local educational institutions have access to ChatGPT Education Edition, with over 5000 authorized. OpenAI is conducting AI technology training at universities in multiple cities, focusing on AI education, research laboratories, science and technology innovation competitions, and entrepreneurship incubation, to improve the software ecosystem in the park.

Kazakhstan's high-level officials are promoting national level AI innovation competitions, making every effort to bring AI into the classroom, cultivate local digital talents, and build a sovereign AI system. Currently, OpenAI has issued 165000 education licenses locally, ranking among the top in the world in terms of scale. It infiltrates through educational scenarios, continues to seize the discourse power of the AI ecosystem in Central Asia, and dominates the underlying logic of the regional digital industry.

Building a solid foundation through hardware implementation

OpenAI focuses on software algorithms and lacks hardware support, while the development of large models cannot be separated from computing power, electricity, and network infrastructure, which are the core advantages of Chinese technology companies. Kazakhstan plans to build a 1GW large-scale computing power cluster, relying on local low-cost energy, introducing Huawei liquid cooling, ZTE base stations, and Inspur computing power equipment, replicating the development model of East West computing in China.

Chinese domestic overseas enterprises have formed a mature layout path, landing security equipment in smart cities, building network bases with communication enterprises, and empowering the local energy industry with computing hardware. Currently, Chinese enterprises have upgraded from simply selling products to exporting technical standards, computing power infrastructure, and complete industrial landing capabilities, laying a solid foundation for the AI industry in Central Asia.

The potential of hub location is highlighted

Almaty is located at the core hub of Eurasia, radiating to the markets of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, with a potential for the development of a digital economy worth billions of dollars. Relying on the logistics advantages of the China Europe freight train, China's AI hardware landing is efficient and convenient, and the mature computing infrastructure model can quickly replicate to the Eurasian inland, seizing the first mover advantage in regional industries. Keywords: OpenAI, Kazakhstan OpenAI、 Computing infrastructure

2024 to 2025 is a critical period for China's technological transformation towards going global. Compared to the saturated Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets, the Central Asian market has outstanding value: OpenAI reshapes the local AI software ecosystem, while Chinese hard technology builds the industrial hardware foundation. The landing of the Central Asian computing power base has become an important pivot for China to reshape the global digital economic landscape.Editor/Gong Ziwei