MOSCOW, Jan 1 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has

ordered Russia's government and the country's biggest bank,

Sberbank, to develop cooperation with China in

artificial intelligence, state news agency TASS said on

Wednesday.

Western sanctions intended to restrict Russia's access to

the technologies it needs to sustain its war against Ukraine

have resulted in the world's major producers of microchips

halting exports to Russia, severely limiting its AI ambitions.