U.S. news agency Bloomberg has published an extensive article examining Firebird AI’s AI factory in Armenia, the country’s technological capabilities and its cooperation with the United States.
The agency recalled that during the Cold War, Armenia, the smallest republic in the Soviet Union, was one of the communist superpower’s centers for electronics and technology. Now, according to Bloomberg, Armenia is moving toward becoming one of the world’s leading hubs for U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure, Armenpress reports.
“San Francisco-based startup Firebird began construction of a data center in Armenia in August, whose capacity will reach 300 megawatts by the end of next year and which will be equipped with more than 70,000 cutting-edge chips. One-fifth of its processing capacity is intended for domestic use to support local research, government and startup ecosystems, while the remainder is allocated to foreign companies, including U.S. firms such as Perplexity AI,” the article said.
Firebird, founded by entrepreneurs of Armenian origin, has emphasized that the complex in Hrazdan, about 45 kilometers from Yerevan, will soon become the region’s largest computing cluster and rank among the largest in Europe. The project’s planned 300-megawatt capacity and more than 70,000 NVIDIA Blackwell and Vera Rubin GPUs by the end of 2027 have also been reported separately.
“This is an economic advantage with far-reaching consequences for the South Caucasus and neighboring Central Asia, where Firebird is already expanding and where major powers are competing for dominance in a strategic corridor connecting Europe and China while bypassing Russia,” the publication said.
“Armenia has outstanding technical talent and a dynamic, growing innovation ecosystem. That is why we began investing in its future long ago. We know Armenia can create economic opportunities that, in turn, will strengthen regional ties and help lay the foundation for long-term stability,” an NVIDIA representative said.
According to the publication, the data center also played a role in the process surrounding a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. People involved in the negotiations said U.S. President Donald Trump’s team pledged to authorize exports of NVIDIA products to help advance negotiations with Armenia on the path toward a historic U.S.-mediated agreement with Azerbaijan.
“A representative of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s office said the bilateral agreements signed in Washington last year, including those on semiconductors and artificial intelligence, represent important peace dividends for Armenia,” the article said. Armenia and the United States signed a memorandum on cooperation in artificial intelligence and semiconductors in 2025.
The author also recalled that Armenia’s cooperation with NVIDIA began in 2019, when Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the chipmaker’s Santa Clara office. This took place several years before the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the artificial intelligence boom. The meeting was organized by former National Assembly lawmaker Hakob Arshakyan, who was among the founders of Armenia’s high-tech ministry and now chairs the board of a foundation that promotes innovation in Armenia and brings together technology and IT executives from around the world.
“According to Arshakyan, who participated in negotiations with former U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration in 2024 over obtaining chips, after more than six months of negotiations, a state university project received export licenses for a batch of 64 advanced NVIDIA H100 accelerators, which at the time constituted the region’s largest supercomputer.
“According to Arshakyan, launching the project took more than a year because Armenia lacked expertise in building data centers. However, the experience made it possible to acquire important knowledge across all areas, from specialized construction to U.S. export regulations,” the article said.
