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Published on
February 6, 2025
5 min read
How Sberbank’s AI Collaboration with China Could Complicate AI Race for the West
Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, is planning to partner with Chinese researchers to undertake joint AI projects. According to Reuters, Sberbank AI collaboration comes barely a month after Chinese startup DeepSeek upended the global tech landscape after it developed an AI model similar to US ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost.
Scanty Details
Sberbank is yet to provide details of its upcoming collaboration plans with China. Russia and China share a strategic partnership that they say has no limits. The two countries have been discussing AI cooperation for a long time. Although details of the depth and scope of their discussions remain scanty, the two countries have discussed AI application in many areas, including the military.
CEO German Gref has led the transformation of Sberbank and made it one the top players that are shaping Russia’s AI strategy. Previously, the bank was a savings bank owned by the state and burdened by a highly bureaucratic process. It unveiled the Sberbank GigaChat AI model
in 2023.
“Sberbank has many scientists. Through them, we plan to conduct joint research projects with researchers from China,” Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin said.
Last month, China’s DeepSeek AI model shook the global tech market. Its low-cost AI models captivated tech investors and posed a threat to the dominance of US tech giants like Nvidia. Just like DeepSeek, Sberbank has made most of its AI platforms accessible to the public. This includes its text-to-image model and its base model, GigaChat.
“The success of DeepSeek is largely due to its transparency, which contrasts with the secrecy of OpenAI. This has attracted a huge community,” Vedyakhin added.
Threat to the West
The possibility of a Russia-China AI alliance poses a big threat to the West. The new alliance could shake the artificial intelligence industry as China and the US fight to dominate the global AI race in 2025.
“China is a partner of Russia on many issues of the international agenda, and the level of scientific cooperation between our countries can be strengthened through collaboration between our scientists,” Sberbank’s First Deputy CEO added.
China’s President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin and Xi share a view that portrays the West as dissolute and in declina. China has been challenging US leadership in everything, from quantum computing and hard military power, to synthetic biology and AI.
Attempts by the West to isolate Russia following the Ukraine war has pushed Russia closer to Beijing. In recent months, Putin has referred to China as an ally.
Sberbank has said that it has compared DeepSeek AI models with its most advanced model, GigaChat MAX. The Russian bank has established that the Chinese AI app is superior in performing scientific tasks. Its GigaChat is better in banking. The bank noted that DeepSeek’s successful performance aligns well with its strategy of finding a cost-effective solution.
“DeepSeek has proven that even with reduced capabilities, it is possible to achieve quality on par with American models. This raises questions about the necessity of extreme investments when there are engineering innovations,” Vedyakhin said.
The bank has been reluctant to invest billions of dollars in computing infrastructure projects such as Stargate that the US President Donald Trump announced last month.
Political Influence
President Putin has already asked Sberbank to cooperate with China and other nations in the BRICS alliance in AI technology in order to challenge US dominance in the industry. Sberbank has been sanctioned by the West. Russia’s AI project is shrouded in secrecy and is difficult to assess.
Western sanctions have caused Russia and China to struggle to build their local computing capacity due to restricted importation of the latest hardware developed by Western countries. Both countries are pursuing alternative solutions to maintain their competitiveness in the AI race. Out of 83 countries, Russia currently ranks 31st in AI innovation, implementation, and investment. It trails the US and some BRICS members like India, and Brazil.
