MTS Web Services Proposed Partnership with China to Build Data Centers in Siberia and the Far East

Pavel Voronin, head of the cloud company MTS Web Services (part of AFK Sistema), has proposed combining the efforts of Russia and China for a partnership in the field of artificial intelligence, the foundation of which could be scaling a network of AI data centers in Siberia and the Far East. According to him, Russia can not only participate in such an alliance but also become one of its leaders thanks to its strong scientific and engineering base, developed market for applied AI solutions, and major technology companies. The press service of AFK Sistema clarified that Russia could oversee part of the training, including data in the Russian language, cultural context, and materials for industry, energy, finance, science, education, and public administration, while Chinese partners could provide the model architecture, computing resources, equipment, and training technologies. At the World AI Conference in Shanghai, the organization WAICO was established, uniting 29 countries, including China and Russia, to coordinate cooperation in the field of AI without the participation of Western countries. In June, it became known that China plans to spend ¥2 trillion ($295 billion) on building AI data centers across the country over the next five years.