An Armenian $500-million initiative to develop an artificial intelligence and supercomputer hub has taken a major step forward after US regulators approved the transfer of advanced Nvidia chips.
The project is being developed by Firebird, an AI startup launched in June with offices in San Francisco and Yerevan, in collaboration with the Armenian government.
At a November 20 news conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan revealed that he personally lobbied US President Donald Trump for help in expediting the chip-transfer approval process, framing the matter as part of the provisional peace deal brokered by Trump and signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan in August at the White House.
“I am glad and grateful that the White House responded quickly and appropriately. As a result, the project will now confidently move forward,” Pashinyan told journalists.
The Armenian AI hub will receive Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, which the company describes a chip that “defines the next chapter in generative AI with unparalleled performance, efficiency, and scale.” Also on November 20, Michael Dell announced via social media that his company will be supplying PowerEdge servers. Dell lauded the venture as “advancing responsible AI innovation across both nations.”
Pashinyan, meanwhile, has characterized the Firebird project as having “significant strategic importance” for Armenia’s economic development by establishing the country as an AI and IT leader in the Caucasus. In the national security realm, the AI project could potentially help Armenia regain strategic parity with Azerbaijan, after Baku, via its superiority in the use of battlefield drones, inflicted a decisive defeat on Armenia during the Second Karabakh War.
