MOSCOW, May 20 (Reuters) – Russia hopes to power its flagship GigaChat AI model with Chinese-made chips, Sberbank’s CEO said during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, as Western sanctions continue to block the country’s access to advanced hardware abroad.
“We are hoping that we will be able to use Chinese microchips for GigaChat,” Chief Executive German Gref told state broadcaster Channel One.
GigaChat was developed by Sberbank, the country’s largest lender, which has been driving Russia’s push into AI.
The bank’s efforts to buy advanced chips from China face stiff competition as China’s biggest internet firms, including ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba, are also rushing to order Huawei’s Ascend 950 AI chips.
Ascend 950, the most advanced Chinese chip, still trails U.S.-based Nvidia’s H200 model. Gref did not say which chips Sberbank was trying to buy.
TRAILING AI LEADERS US AND CHINA
Russia trails AI leaders, the United States and China, and depends heavily on imported electronics in sensitive sectors including defence, with China being its main supplier.
This reliance may change, as Sberbank has emerged as a major maker of electronics after buying a stake in leading producer Element.
A joint declaration, issued after talks between Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday, said AI has become key to economic reform.
It urged closer bilateral cooperation, including in defence and open‑source software, backed China’s proposal for a global AI body and warned against the use of AI as a geopolitical tool.
(Writing by Gleb BryanskiEditing by Bernadette Baum)
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