Kazakhstan’s supercomputer launch faces delay due to US licensing issue

Kazakhstan has not yet launched its supercomputers, despite an initial deadline set for the end of 2024. The delay is due to the country still waiting for the export license for American-made chips from the U.S. government, according to a statement from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development in response to an inquiry by Kursiv.media.

«The supercomputer project is currently in the implementation phase. Kazakhstan has submitted a request for an export license for Nvidia chips. Negotiations with the U.S. government regarding the matter are underway,» the statement reads.

An export license is a document issued by the U.S. government that authorizes the export of specific items, including technologies.

The launch deadline depends on when the license is obtained. The agency also stated that information about the type of project financing and investment volume has yet to be disclosed, pending the issuance of license.

Kazakhstan plans to utilize supercomputers for big data processing, the development and application of artificial intelligence technologies, forecasting and decision-making in strategically important sectors of the economy, the ministry explained.

In April, the agency promised to launch these powerful computing machines by the end of the year. They were planned to be housed in the Data Center of the National Information Technologies JSC.

Supercomputers are capable of performing trillions, and in some cases even quadrillions, of computing operations per second. According to various sources, regions and countries with access to these powerful machines include the U.S., some European nations, China, Japan and Russia.