Introduction to Hankavan
Hankavan is about an hour’s drive from Armenia’s capital Eriwan and known for its campsites. Every summer, all types of programs pull the students here. In the last week of August, more than 100 young people came for something new: learning something about career paths in artificial intelligence (AI).
Preparing Young Armenians for Technical Jobs
A non-profit organization, which is known as the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology, organized the camp as part of its efforts to prepare young Armenians for technical jobs. On the last day of the program, Armenian tech specialists were sitting in a circle with students from all over the country to share advice.
The Nvidia AI Factory
One of the spokesmen for the day, a researcher and software engineer named Tigran Ishkhanyan, said that the new AI data center will be a blessing for Armenia – and for young people like the students of the camp. "[The] Nvidia Ai Factory will surely be a game changer because you need a lot of experts and of course try to hire someone from Armenia,” he said.
Competitive Advantage
NVIDIA has announced that it will work with a small US company called Firebird and Armenia to start a AI factory of $500 million next year, although the specific location of the center still has to be announced. It is said to use thousands of microchips that are referred to as graphics processing units or GPUs.
The Future of AI
Rev. Lebaredian, a Vice President of Nvidia, recently predicted that "everyone" all over the world will finally have a fundamental infrastructure for the AI. In a podcast, he compared the technology to the advent of electricity and noted that it was only a few places limited before spreading everywhere. But until the AI becomes omnipresent in a similar way, the new data center of Armenia will provide a major competitive advantage, said Lebaredian.
How the AI Factory Works
The executive also explained how a AI factory works and said that the new facility will record tons of data, quickly grind it with Nvidia Blackwell-GPUs and get so-called tokens with condensed information for all types of applications. "The more token they can produce, the more efficient they are, the more value they create," added Lebearedian.
KIS Winner and Loser
As expensive AI factories are built in rich countries – with the United States, the European Union and China that organize most of such locations – a 2024 report has expressed growing concerns that countries are left with fewer resources. Huge data centers have operated AI research, cost billions of dollars and triggered the competition for the acquisition of GPUs.
The Digital Gap
Experts warn that the growth of AI could create a new digital gap that excites the inequalities of colonialism. "Since the global economy is increasingly moving towards AI-controlled production and innovation, less developed countries continue to risk, which tightens the economic and social distinctions," says the report.
Local Tech Boom
According to his LinkedIn profile, Lebearedian is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, just like the head of Firebird. People in Armenia credit Armenian expats like them who have contributed to creating the country’s technology sector in recent years. There are more than 1,200 technology companies with at least three employees in Armenia, and they had $2.3 billion last year.
The Tumo Center
Some of the future workers in the Nvidia AI factory seem to come from the after-school programs of the Armenia Tumo Center for Creative Technologies. The Tumo Center has taught thousands of 12- to 18-year-olds and other lessons for thousands of 12 to 18 year olds for over a decade.
Benefits for Armenia
Pegor Papazian, Chief Development Officer from Tumo, told that he and other technology leaders in Armenia were involved in discussions about the establishment of the new AI factory. "We invited the Firebird team to create a few ideas about how we would use computing free of charge if we were available for educational, academic research purposes," he said. "It looks like we benefit directly."
Hopes for the New Factory
Viktoria Melonyan, a 16-year-old who studies it, has expressed great hopes for the new factory. "It is very surprising that you have invested such great money for the construction of servers," she said. "I think this investment from Nvidia to Armenia will be great … to show the world that Armenia does not fall back, but we’ll catch up and we continue to push others."
