Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a directive for his government and Sberbank to collaborate with China on artificial intelligence development, marking another strategic move to challenge Western technological dominance. According to a December 30 post on the Kremlin’s official website, Putin instructed his administration and the Russian banking giant to “ensure further cooperation with the People’s Republic of China in conducting technological research and development in the field of artificial intelligence.”
The initiative comes 34 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which triggered comprehensive Western sanctions that have severely restricted Russia’s access to advanced technology. Putin has delegated Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Sberbank CEO German Gref to spearhead this AI cooperation effort, with a progress report expected by April 2025.
This announcement follows Putin’s December declaration of a BRICS AI Alliance Network, signaling Russia’s broader strategy to build parallel technological systems independent of Western infrastructure. The sanctions have particularly impacted Russia’s access to semiconductor chips, graphics cards for AI applications, and supercomputers—critical components for developing competitive AI capabilities.
Alexander Vedyakhin, Sberbank’s first deputy CEO, acknowledged to Reuters that Russia currently lags six to nine months behind the US and China in various AI parameters. To compensate for these limitations, Russia plans to focus on developing large language models rather than investing heavily in massive data center infrastructure. Sberbank CEO Gref previously stated in April 2023 that graphics cards for AI and supercomputers were the most difficult Western products to substitute.
The US has restricted advanced computer chip sales to Russia since 2022, with further tightening of third-party chip export restrictions implemented last year. A former top Russian finance official warned in September 2022 that Russia would be relegated to using “second-grade tech for years” while spending “huge resources” to recreate existing Western technologies.
The potential Russia-China AI partnership raises concerns beyond sanctions circumvention. China’s AI development operates under strict government control, with Chinese officials testing large language models to ensure they embody “core socialist values,” according to Financial Times reporting. This collaboration could extend authoritarian approaches to AI governance and content control across both nations’ technological ecosystems.
Key Quotes
ensure further cooperation with the People’s Republic of China in conducting technological research and development in the field of artificial intelligence
This directive from Putin, published on the Kremlin’s official website, establishes the formal framework for Russia-China AI collaboration and signals Russia’s strategic pivot toward Eastern technological partnerships in response to Western sanctions.
Russia would be using second-grade tech for years and spending ‘huge resources’ to recreate what already exists
A former top Russian finance official made this assessment to Reuters in September 2022, highlighting the significant technological disadvantage Russia faces due to Western sanctions and the inefficiency of attempting to replicate existing Western innovations.
graphics cards for AI and supercomputers were the hardest to substitute
Sberbank CEO German Gref acknowledged this challenge in April 2023, identifying the critical bottleneck in Russia’s AI development efforts—access to advanced computing hardware that Western sanctions have effectively blocked.
Russia was six to nine months behind the US and China in AI in a range of parameters
Alexander Vedyakhin, Sberbank’s first deputy CEO, provided this assessment to Reuters, offering a candid acknowledgment of Russia’s current AI capabilities gap and the challenge facing the proposed Russia-China partnership.
Our Take
This Russia-China AI partnership represents more than sanctions evasion—it’s a deliberate attempt to create an alternative AI ecosystem governed by authoritarian principles. While Russia’s six-to-nine-month technology gap suggests immediate competitive challenges, the long-term implications are concerning. The collaboration could pool resources, research talent, and data across two major nations operating outside Western ethical frameworks for AI development. China’s requirement that AI systems embody “core socialist values” combined with Russia’s increasingly isolated technological position creates conditions for AI development prioritizing state control over individual rights. This bifurcation of global AI development may accelerate the fragmentation of technology standards, potentially creating incompatible AI systems serving fundamentally different political objectives. The April 2025 progress report deadline suggests urgency in Moscow, likely driven by both military applications and economic necessity as sanctions continue constraining Russia’s technological capabilities.
Why This Matters
This development represents a significant geopolitical shift in the global AI landscape, as two major authoritarian powers formally align their artificial intelligence capabilities to counter Western technological dominance. The partnership could accelerate AI development in both nations despite Western sanctions, potentially creating a bifurcated global AI ecosystem with competing standards, values, and governance frameworks.
For the AI industry, this signals the emergence of distinct technological spheres—one aligned with democratic values and another shaped by authoritarian control. The collaboration may help Russia overcome critical hardware shortages while providing China with additional research partnerships and market access. However, Russia’s acknowledged six-to-nine-month lag suggests this alliance may struggle to match Western AI capabilities in the near term.
The broader implications extend to AI ethics, censorship, and global technology standards. A Russia-China AI axis could normalize surveillance technologies, content control, and AI systems designed to reinforce state power rather than individual freedoms. This partnership underscores how AI development is increasingly intertwined with geopolitical competition, potentially fragmenting the global technology ecosystem and creating parallel AI infrastructures with fundamentally different values and objectives.
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