According to online sources, Russian artificial intelligence developers such as Sber and Yandex have requested government support. In exchange, they are willing to allocate a portion of their profits to education and government agencies. The authorities are not prepared to invest the requested 400-450 billion rubles, but are considering non-financial participation.
A well-informed source reported that the companies have approached Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin with a request to organize an investment program worth 400 billion rubles annually. In exchange, the companies propose donating 5% of the profits generated from the provided computing power to education, and another 5% to government agencies.
Another source said the companies began exploring options for government support in the middle of last year. He added that various amounts were discussed, but at that point, Sber and Yandex were unable to fully explain why they needed government support. Because of this, the authorities were skeptical of their proposal.
Another IT market source reported that Sber was the only one to make the request. The company requested 450 billion rubles for the construction of a data center for the development of sovereign AI. The company was willing to make space within this data center available to other market players developing national AI. The source added that members of the AI Alliance, which includes Sber, Yandex, VK, Gazprom Neft, Sibur, Uralchem, and Severstal, participated in meetings on this issue. According to the source, the authorities were skeptical of the idea and declined to allocate the funds, suggesting that Sber finance the construction of the new data center itself. Yandex was also skeptical of Sber's idea, as it was unclear how the company would use the facility.
A representative of the AI Alliance confirmed discussions about industry support measures, but targeted assistance to specific companies is not currently under discussion. The focus is on systemic incentives for the industry and creating conditions for Russian developers to be competitive in the global market. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko's office declined to comment on the matter, adding that it is premature to disclose any specific details.
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Source: 3dnews.ru
