The AI startup Firebird Inc. has received US government approval to export Nvidia Corp. chips to Armenia for a supercomputer project in the country, part of a global push to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The effort, which was announced by Nvidia in June, will bring the first large-scale AI data center to the region. The 100-megawatt facility — backed by an initial $500 million investment — will use AI servers from Dell Technologies Inc. and Blackwell processors from Nvidia. The first phase is scheduled to be operational in the second quarter of next year, said Firebird Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Razmig Hovaghimian.
His company is one of many Nvidia partners looking to establish powerful data centers in far-flung locations, a movement that is meant to promote the use of AI and the computing infrastructure that supports it. The approval comes as the US has eased restrictions on exporting advanced AI chips. Washington is expected to greenlight the sale of Nvidia chips to Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported, which follows a similar agreement to issue licenses in the United Arab Emirates. The deal comes on the heels of a US-Saudi summit with President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday and an associated investment forum Wednesday.
Armenia has deep economic and political ties with Russia, its biggest trade partner, and hosts a Russian military base in Gyumri. Since its war 2023 war with Azerbaijan, it has sought to distance itself from the Kremlin and built closer ties with the West.
During the Biden administration, Armenia was considered a second-tier country under the so-called AI diffusion rule, which restricted the number of AI processors that can be exported to such nations. US allies such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and Poland were also in that category and chafed at the rules. They were abandoned after Trump assumed office.
Roughly 20% of the Firebird facility’s capacity will be reserved for Armenian companies, and the remaining 80% will be sold to US-based firms doing business in the region. The first phase will be funded by debt and equity raised by Firebird, which is backed by Moderna Inc. co-founder Noubar Afeyan, Hovaghimian said in an interview. He declined to name other investors or say whether Nvidia will put money into the startup.
San Francisco-based Firebird launched earlier this year and has about 25 employees. The company, which plans to focus on AI data centers for emerging markets, is already talking to several other countries and is particularly interested in Latin America, Hovaghimian said.
The company is looking for places with clean energy from sources like nuclear, hydro and solar. In the case of Armenia, nuclear power is available. A 100-megawatt facility would require as much electricity as it takes to power about 75,000 homes.
