Tokayev calls for rapid domestic AI development
EL.KZ Информационно-познавательный портал
Addressing the government meeting, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev raised the issue of the low popularity of the domestic language model KazLLM, noting that users more often choose international services, including ChatGPT, El.kz reports.
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev, KazLLM is currently used by over 600,000 people, while ChatGPT’s audience numbers in the hundreds of millions worldwide, including about 13% of Kazakhstan’s population.
The issue of the Aitu messenger was also addressed. According to the ministry, its audience exceeds 700,000 users; however, the President noted the need for additional verification of these figures.
Kazakhstan bets on systemic AI development
In his report, Zhaslan Madiyev said that Kazakhstan has formed a new institutional framework for developing the digital economy. The Digital Code and the Law “On Cybersecurity” have been adopted, creating conditions for large-scale deployment of AI in public administration and the economy.
He added that 2026 has been declared the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. Over the next three years, the country plans to build a full-fledged AI ecosystem from infrastructure and data to talent and sector-specific solutions.
Internet in villages, along highways, and in transport
In 2026, fiber-optic connectivity will be extended to another 1,900 rural settlements, and by 2027 internet coverage will exceed 90%. Connectivity will appear on all national highways, as well as on trains and aboard domestic airline flights.
Kazakhstan also plans to become a regional satellite communications hub: through Starlink gateway stations located in the country, neighboring states will be able to access the internet.
IT market growth
As part of the AI-SANA program, around one million citizens have already acquired digital skills. In 2026, the launch of an Artificial Intelligence University is planned, which will serve as a center for training next-generation specialists.
According to the ministry, over the past five years exports of IT services have grown 15-fold, and the market volume has reached approximately 2 trlln tenge per year. The average salary in the IT sector is nearly twice the national average.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that comprehensive digitalization and the introduction of artificial intelligence must move beyond an auxiliary role and become the main connecting link of the country’s economic development.
The Head of State emphasized that artificial intelligence should be viewed not as a fashionable trend, but as the foundation of a new economic model and a key element of national ideology.
According to him, AI and digital technologies are precisely what can ensure productivity growth, the creation of export-oriented industries, the production of high value-added goods, and Kazakhstan’s integration into global digital value chains.
The President noted that amid rapid technological change, it is critically important to act proactively by making bold, effective, and timely management decisions. He also stressed the inadmissibility of a formal approach to digitalization.
Head of State calls for a unified medical information system
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted problems in the healthcare sector related to the lack of integration among information systems.
“There are more than 30 fragmented systems operating in the sector, and full integration has still not been achieved. This is one of the main reasons for misuses of budget funds,” the Head of State noted.
The President drew attention to identified cases of fraud in the social sector, stressing that the Prosecutor General’s Office and other authorized bodies must investigate all facts regardless of how long ago they occurred or the official positions of those involved. “I will personally oversee the investigation process,” he added.
In this regard, Tokayev instructed the Government to complete the creation of a Unified State Medical Information System by December 1, 2026, which will ensure transparency and control of all processes, as well as the effective functioning of the mandatory social health insurance system. According to the President, only full digitalization of the Social Health Insurance Fund’s activities will guarantee the targeted use of funds.
In addition, the Head of State noted that similar problems exist in the education sector, where various schemes and abuses have also been identified.
“Offenders must receive the punishment they deserve,” Tokayev emphasized.
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