Alexander Mashrabov, co-founder of the US-based AI video startup Higgsfield, receives Kazakh citizenship and applies to renounce Russian citizenship
Alexander Mashrabov, co-founder of the U.S. AI startup Higgsfield, has been granted Kazakh citizenship, Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan’s minister of artificial intelligence and digital development, wrote on Facebook.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the decree on October 30. A published photo appears to show Madiyev personally presenting Mashrabov with his passport.
“Kazakhstan has one more billionaire! […] Thank you to the entire Higgsfield team for your contribution to Kazakhstan’s AI industry. You’ve created a product that is in demand in markets around the world and has more than 40 million users. This is a major achievement,” Madiyev wrote.
Kazakhstan does not allow dual citizenship, Bloomberg noted. A Higgsfield spokesperson told the news agency that Mashrabov, who has lived in the United States in recent years, had applied to renounce his Russian citizenship. His LinkedIn profile lists Los Angeles as his home.
In August, Forbes Russia planned to include Mashrabov on its list of Russian billionaires.
Higgsfield uses artificial intelligence to generate video content. Mashrabov and Kazakh machine learning researcher Yerzat Dulat founded the startup in 2023. It targets creators, marketers, and brands producing content for social media and advertising. Forbes reported that Higgsfield’s annual revenue reached $700 million in August 2026, up from $20 million a year earlier. The company was valued at $5.4 billion in 2026 and recently raised $400 million from investors including Intel, Goldman Sachs, DST Global, and Liberty Global. Mashrabov may hold a 20% stake in Higgsfield, which is why the magazine planned to include him on its billionaire list.
Mashrabov graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology with a degree in computer science. As a student, he worked at Yandex, helping develop Yandex Search. In 2018, he and Grigory Tkachenko launched AI Factory, a platform that uses AI to animate human faces in photos and videos. Two years later, Snap Inc., the U.S. company that owns the messaging app Snapchat, bought the startup for $166 million. Mashrabov then joined Snap.
Several prominent businesspeople have renounced their Russian citizenship since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They include Oleg Tinkov, former Mail.ru Group owner Yuri Milner, Revolut bank founder Nikolay Storonsky, and Yandex founder Arkady Volozh.
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