US or China? Why Kazakhstan refuses to pick sides as it eyes AI revolution

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Like other middle powers, the Central Asian nation is striving to build a new AI economy while bridging a widening US-China tech divide

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Ben Jiangin Astana, Kazakhstan

Driving along the wide boulevards of Astana during a recent trip to the Kazakh capital, signs of China’s growing commercial footprint were everywhere.

Chinese cars were becoming a common sight on the streets here, as brands from BYD to Changan made aggressive inroads in a market once dominated by South Korea’s Hyundai and Kia, said the driver who picked me up from the airport in a gleaming Changan electric vehicle.

But it was not the rise of Chinese tech that had brought me to this energy-rich pocket of Central Asia; it was an American giant.

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