Astana opened the international technology forum AI & Digital Bridge 2026 on October 1. The forum anchors AI MONTH, a themed month of activities covering artificial intelligence and the wider digital field. Everything runs under the banner of Kazakhstan's Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the event on its first day. His stop-in put the weight of the state behind the gathering from the very start. AI & Digital Bridge has grown into Kazakhstan's flagship international meeting point for the tech sector in recent years. Officials use the platform to court foreign investors and lay out the country's digital ambitions.