File photo: President Putin has ordered the Russian government and the country’s largest bank, Sberbank, to build AI cooperation with China. |Photo credit: AP
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian government and the country’s largest bank, Sberbank, to build cooperation with China in the field of artificial intelligence.
Putin’s instructions were published on the Kremlin’s website on Wednesday, three weeks after Russia announced it would work with BRICS partners and other countries to develop AI.
He told the government and Sberbank, which is leading Russia’s AI efforts, to “ensure further cooperation with the People’s Republic of China in technology research and development in the field of artificial intelligence.”
As a result of Western sanctions aimed at restricting Russia’s access to the technology needed to sustain the war with Ukraine, the world’s major microchip producers have stopped exporting to Russia and AI ambitions were severely limited.
In 2023, Sberbank’s German CEO Gref admitted that graphics processing units (GPUs), the microchips that underpin AI development, will be the most difficult hardware for Russia to replace.
By partnering with non-Western countries, Russia is seeking to challenge U.S. dominance in one of the most promising and important technologies of the 21st century.
President Putin said on December 11 that the new AI alliance network will bring together experts from BRICS countries and other interested countries.
Russia currently ranks 31st out of 83 countries in AI adoption, innovation and investment in UK-based Tortoise Media’s Global AI Index, ranking it ahead of not only the US and China but also BRICS members India and Brazil. It’s not far behind.
issued – January 2, 2025 9:21am IST
