Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the official opening ceremony of the AI factory, created in cooperation with Firebird AI and the global technology company NVIDIA, Armenian Government’s Press office reports.
Nikol Pashinyan toured the factory, got acquainted with the company's capabilities, and upcoming programs.
The Prime Minister was informed that the project implemented in Armenia reflects the developing technological cooperation between the United States and Armenia, creating new opportunities for joint development in the fields of high technology, innovation, and artificial intelligence. It was noted that the Government of Armenia acts as a strategic partner of the project, supporting the formation of an advanced AI infrastructure in Armenia and the development of Armenia as a regional technology center.
A solemn ceremony was held next, attended by members of the Armenian government, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Jaslan Mädiev, co-founders of the Firebird AI Center Alexander Yesayan and Razmik Hovakimyan, NVIDIA Vice President for Physical AI Simulation Rev Lebaredian, diplomats and others.
The Prime Minister welcomed those present and noted: “First of all, let me congratulate all of us today on this event and on August 8 in general, because I feel that August 8 is gaining more and more weighty significance in the history of the Republic of Armenia. And what is happening now is actually a very important, very weighty event, but with many layers in that weight. For a long time, we in the Government have been discussing publicly and privately the need to change our ideas about speed, and when last year Rev Lebaredian, Razmik Hovakimyan, Alexander Yesayan spoke about their intention to implement such a project in a period of a year, or even less, I must admit that it sounded very strange and unusual, but at least I did not show my feelings in that regard.
And here we are today, at the exact agreed place and time. But we must record what made all this possible. Of course, it is obvious that the peace summit held in the United States on August 8, 2025, at the White House, with the initiative and participation of President Trump, and its outcome, are of essential and key importance for today's event. I remember that last September we had to explain why we returned from the United States having only signed a memorandum of intent in the field of technology and artificial intelligence, because our argument that this memorandum of intent is a weighty document and will very soon have its result did not always seem convincing to many, and here is the result.
Speaking of speed, I also want to emphasize that when Senior Advisor Aryeh Lightstone came to Yerevan last May and said that President Trump’s desire is that we reach a peace deal within a month, our feelings were the same again, we said we are ready to do what depends on us. And we did what depended on us, of course, it did not happen in a month, but it happened in about two months.
And I want to emphasize again August 8, 2025, as a turning point for Armenia, for Azerbaijan. I called the President of Azerbaijan today, by the way, and we talked about the importance of today’s event, and this is truly a turning point. I want us to applaud President Trump for making this day a reality.
It should be noted that peace is turning point, in general, in terms of changing the economic and investment environment in our country. After that event, international agencies have been reviewing Armenia’s sovereign ratings one after another, essentially sending a very clear message to the investment community that Armenia is a place where you can confidently make investments.
In the near future, we will focus only on a large-scale program, which is the TRIPP project, and which will certainly raise Armenia’s weight on the international investment map by another level. But I want to emphasize that the speeds on the way to full realization must also reach their culmination.”
The Prime Minister thanked all those who contributed to the creation of such a center in Armenia. “I am sure that many people have made a great contribution to today, but the mood of today’s event is very important, because I understood that today we are talking more about the future, tomorrow, being proud of what has already happened. But what has happened is a very big asset and it is very important where we will move on that basis. I want to say that it is very interesting how political and economic processes accompany each other. And in our reality, it is true, a lot has been said about it at the theoretical level - the interconnection of economy and politics, investments and politics, but in reality we have not often seen it. And today’s event is a very vivid manifestation of this.
The establishment of our political strategic relations with the United States in January 2025 is the point of acceleration of events. Today, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan is present here, and just last week I had a phone conversation with the President of Kazakhstan, yesterday we had working discussions with the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, today the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan is present here, which is a great joy for us, and we are grateful for that presence. Today, relations between Armenia and Kazakhstan are developing at an unimaginable pace, and this is a very good example of how politics is changing in the Republic of Armenia, how political perception is changing in the Republic of Armenia, how the concept of the state is re-establishing itself in the Republic of Armenia," the Prime Minister noted.
In the context of Armenia-Diaspora relations, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the importance of not sympathizing with Armenia, but participating in Armenia's development and contributing to its development: "Dear friends, the Republic of Armenia does not need sympathy, I say this officially, the Republic of Armenia needs partnership and cooperation, and the Republic of Armenia is a reliable partner. And I want to thank you, dear compatriots, for responding to this message of the Government. And I really appreciate this very highly and it is a great honor for me that today we are talking about completely different agendas, which is the agenda of the state, which is the agenda of life, which is the agenda of the future, and because the future is now, it is here, it is today and you see that future with your own eyes today.
Thank you to all those who created that future, we are grateful."
The factory is an advanced artificial intelligence computing infrastructure being created in Armenia, which is designed for training and running AI models, as well as for implementing large-scale and complex computational problems. The first phase of the AI factory, located on an area of about 200,000 square meters near Hrazdan, is planned to be equipped with more than 6,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and a capacity of about 18 MW. The volume of investments in the first phase of the megaproject is 500 million USD. The next phases of the project will significantly expand the computing capacity of the infrastructure, equipping it with next-generation NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs and forming one of the largest clusters of advanced AI computing capacity in emerging markets. In the second phase, total investments will reach more than $4 billion, and the infrastructure will be equipped with about 50,000 next-generation NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs, forming the world's largest cluster of the most advanced AI processors in emerging markets. This became possible after the US regulatory authorities granted an export license for an additional 41,000 NVIDIA GB300 chips. The third phase of the already approved expansion is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027. As a result, the total capacity of the AI factory is expected to increase to more than 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell and Vera Rubin GPUs, and the total capacity of the platform to more than 400 MW. As a result, the project can be ranked among the largest AI infrastructure platforms in Europe and among the world's significant AI computing centers. In the first phase of the project, it is planned to create about 100 permanent jobs, and in the second phase, the number of employees is planned to be increased to 300. On April 17, 2026, an agreement was signed between the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia and the Firebird AI company for the acquisition of high-performance computing resources, according to which the state plans to acquire relevant computing resources worth 25 million USD. The resources acquired within the framework of the project are planned to be provided to specialists in the field of artificial intelligence, researchers, scientists, research and educational institutions, as well as startups.
