A360
Key Takeaways✦ Atlas AI
01
Sberbank seeks Chinese chips for GigaChat AI.
02
Western sanctions restrict Russia's hardware access.
03
China is Russia's main hardware supplier.
Atlas AI
Russia's Sberbank announced on May 20 that it intends to utilize Chinese-made microchips to power its GigaChat artificial intelligence (AI) model. This development was disclosed by Sberbank CEO German Gref during President Vladimir Putin's visit to China, as Western sanctions continue to restrict Russia's access to advanced hardware. The move aims to mitigate the impact of these sanctions on Russia's AI development efforts.
Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, developed GigaChat and has been a primary driver of the country's AI initiatives. The bank faces significant competition for advanced Chinese chips, particularly Huawei's Ascend 950 AI chips, from major Chinese internet firms such as ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba. While the Ascend 950 is China's most advanced chip, it remains less powerful than the U.S.-based Nvidia H200 model.
Russia currently lags behind AI leaders like the United States and China in AI technology development. The country's reliance on imported electronics for sensitive sectors, including defense, makes China its primary supplier for such hardware. The specific Chinese chips Sberbank is attempting to procure were not identified by Gref.
