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

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

Sberbank, to build cooperation with China in

artificial intelligence.

Putin's instructions were published on the Kremlin's website

on Wednesday, three weeks after he announced that Russia would

team up with BRICS partners and other countries to develop AI.

He told the government and Sberbank, which is

spearheading Russia's AI efforts, to "ensure further

co-operation with the People's Republic of China in

technological research and development in the field of

artificial intelligence".

Western sanctions intended to restrict Moscow'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.

Sberbank CEO German Gref acknowledged in 2023 that

graphics processing units (GPUs), the microchips that underpin

AI development, were the trickiest hardware for Russia to

replace.

By partnering with non-Western countries, Russia is

seeking to challenge the dominance of the United States in one

of the most promising and crucial technologies of the 21st

century.

Putin

said

on Dec. 11 that a new AI Alliance Network would bring

together specialists from BRICS countries and other interested

states.

Russia currently ranks 31st of 83 countries by AI

implementation, innovation and investment on UK-based Tortoise

Media's Global AI Index, well behind not only the United States

and China but also fellow BRICS members India and Brazil.