News
AI, startups, tech and digital transformation — Kazakhstan & the world
The US-Israel-Iran conflict has triggered a wave of cyberattacks, including 149 DDoS attacks on 110 organizations in 16 countries over 4 days. Israel received 36% of the attacks, the UAE 21%, and Bahrain 14%. Today, May 12, 2026, threats are escalating globally, requiring immediate strengthening of infrastructure protection in Central Asia.
Google Cloud's Mandiant Threat Intelligence has published a report on AI risks in cloud environments. Attackers are using AI to discover zero-day vulnerabilities faster than traditional methods. This is critical for DevOps teams today, as platform engineering on Kubernetes accelerates the deployment of AI agents. Businesses in Central Asia need to urgently implement protections like Google Cloud Model Armor.
Today, May 12, 2026, Kaspi.kz announced the launch of digital tenge (CBDC) support for all users. The platform allows instant transfers without commissions up to 1 million tenge. This accelerates the digitization of payments in Kazakhstan, where the share of cash has fallen to 15%. For businesses, this provides access to new blockchain tools, reducing costs by 40%.
Leading venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has announced the raising of $20 billion for a mega fund focused on artificial intelligence. This comes at the peak of a global AI boom, with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic attracting billions. For businesses in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, this signals an acceleration in AI technology investments, opening opportunities for local startups and outsourcing. Companies like Alashed IT (it.alashed.kz) are already helping implement AI solutions for regional firms.
The Government of Kazakhstan is radically changing its approach to attracting foreign specialists. New amendments to the migration legislation provide for an expansion of the list of priority professions and the introduction of the Altyn Visa program for highly paid personnel. This decision is critical for the technological development of the country and solving the problem of the shortage of IT professionals.
Proptech platform Byit, founded in 2022 by Antoine Azero, has officially entered the UAE market with an innovative set of AI tools for real estate agents. The company uses an agent-oriented brokerage model, offering freelancers up to 90% of the developer's commission. This expansion opens up new opportunities for cross-border transactions between Egyptian real estate offerings and Persian Gulf investors.
Today, markets are holding their breath ahead of the April inflation data from the BLS at 8:30 ET, where a 3.7% year-over-year increase is expected—double the Fed's 2% target. This calls into question rate cuts in 2026. Meanwhile, Intel and AMD are soaring in 2026: Intel's stock has tripled, and AMD has risen by 25% in a week following the Q1 report. The shift in AI from GPU to CPU for inference is changing the chip sector leaders.
American startup Anduril Industries is on the verge of the largest funding round in the history of the defense sector. The Series H round, which began marketing in February 2026, is confirmed by reports from Bloomberg, WSJ, and Axios in March. This event signals a global shift in investment in defense AI amid growing geopolitical risks. For IT companies in Central Asia, this opens up niches in related technologies.
OpenAI's main competitor has gained unprecedented access to the computational power needed to scale enterprise AI solutions. Simultaneously, OpenAI has released GPT-5.5 Instant with a 24% improvement in accuracy and integration of context from previous chats. The White House is moving towards federal testing of AI models, and major companies are transitioning from model development to consulting and deployment.
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