Beeline Kazakhstan and QazCode signed a memorandum with GSMA and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center

Partners plan to develop AI in the Kazakh language.

Global digital operator VEON Ltd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Beeline Kazakhstan, GSMA, and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to explore collaboration opportunities in developing artificial intelligence for small language groups.

The parties will focus on developing tools and materials for language models and AI systems for low-resource languages, including countries where VEON operates.

Operating in countries where 7% of the world's population lives, primarily speaking low-resource languages, VEON aims to address the AI language gap by supporting the use of low-resource languages in AI. Starting with Kazakhstan, where QazCode, a subsidiary of Beeline Kazakhstan, has already launched Kaz-RoBERTA-conversational — an AI module in the Kazakh language that supports customer service in Beeline Kazakhstan's digital applications.

A key element of the partnership will be the innovative GSMA Foundry accelerator — an initiative that brings together mobile network operators and representatives from other technology sectors to help participants shape the digital future by rapidly developing real-world solutions to industry challenges.

The collaboration will take place within the Aina Alliance, a joint project of the Government of Catalonia and GSMA, based on the Aina project. This government-promoted and funded initiative aims to support the presence of small language groups in AI models, enabling speakers of all languages to fully participate in the digital world. VEON became the first pilot project under this partnership.