Balaji Srinivasan is opening his Network School in Kazakhstan after Malaysian authorities revoked the license of his Forest City community and ordered it to shut down.
The former Coinbase chief technology officer announced Tuesday that Network School had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Kazakhstan to open a new campus. “I am pleased to announce that a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Network School,” he wrote in a post pinned to his X account, adding that the campus would become “a haven for global techno-optimism, with expedited visas, streamlined redomiciliation, and active recruitment of talent.”
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development said in a statement that the deal was a strategic partnership covering “artificial intelligence, innovation, technological entrepreneurship and human capital development,” adding that Srinivasan’s “technology ecosystem includes over 500 companies.”
Ousted From Forest City
Hours before Srinivasan announced Network School’s MOU with Kazakhstan, Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the Iskandar Puteri City Council had voted to revoke Network School’s business license and order all activities to cease effective July 22, writing that “no investor, company, or organisation may be placed above the sovereignty of the country’s laws.” Malaysia’s digital economy agency, MDEC, is separately moving to strip the school of its Malaysia Digital status.
The shutdown capped weeks of scrutiny that began with social-media claims that Israeli nationals were among the community’s members, which prompted an immigration inspection that later reported that members had valid immigration documents. Srinivasan had dismissed reports of a closure as “fake news,” saying Network School received only two minor licensing notices.
Srinivasan launched Network School in 2024 as a live-in commune for techno-optimists, an early real-world test of the network state concept he laid out in his 2022 book.
Related Listen: The Chopping Block: A Network State in 10 Years? Balaji Srinivasan Says Yes
The post Balaji Finds Network School a New Home in Kazakhstan After Malaysia Eviction appeared first on Unchained.
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