Sberbank seeks Chinese microchips for GigaChat during Putin visit

A major Russian bank is seeking to use Chinese-made microchips to power the country's flagship artificial intelligence system, a move that underscores Russia's pivot to Asian technology amid Western sanctions. The announcement came during President Vladimir Putin's state visit to China this week.

German Gref, the chief executive of Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, stated that the bank hopes to use Chinese semiconductors for its GigaChat AI model. Sberbank has been a primary driver of Russia's domestic AI development. The bank's push for advanced chips from China, however, places it in direct competition with major Chinese technology firms, including ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba, which are also seeking to acquire Huawei's Ascend 950 AI chips.

The Ascend 950 is considered China's most advanced AI chip, though industry analysts note it still lags behind the performance of leading models from U.S.-based companies like Nvidia. Gref did not specify which Chinese chips Sberbank is attempting to procure.

Russia's technological ambitions face significant hurdles. The country trails far behind the United States and China in AI development and remains heavily dependent on imported...