Ukrainian drones struck Russia's biggest data center on Wednesday, in what appears to be a series of attacks aimed at Moscow's ambitions to build artificial intelligence capabilities on a par with the United States and China, Reuters reported.
The strike hit the Balakovo data center owned by Sberbank, the country's largest bank and technology company. Sberbank first deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin confirmed the attack to reporters but said all of the bank's systems and services were operating normally and without disruption. It followed three attacks in the past week on data centers owned by Russian technology group Yandex.
Putin holds unannounced security meeting
President Vladimir Putin held a previously unannounced meeting on Wednesday with top officials on "information security", in which Sberbank CEO German Gref took part. The Kremlin said the meeting was not linked to the attacks on the data centers.
Russia's state RIA Novosti news agency reported in 2024 that the Sberbank center hit on Wednesday would host the country's biggest supercomputer, scheduled to go into operation in 2027. The Yandex data centers hit earlier hosted all three of that company's operating supercomputers. Neither company has said whether supercomputers used to train AI models were damaged.
Sanctions squeeze Russia's AI hardware
Along with Yandex, Sberbank is Russia's leading developer of artificial intelligence, with the domestic market shared between Sberbank's GigaChat model and YandexGPT. Both companies have invested heavily but lag global leaders by up to nine months, according to Sberbank's own estimates, partly because Western sanctions hinder access to the most advanced hardware.
"The equipment is being imported, but it's done at a high cost, through indirect routes," IT expert Mikhail Klimarev told Reuters, warning that damage to the supercomputers could set back the Russian AI industry.
The Sberbank site draws power from the nearby Balakovo nuclear power plant and the Saratov hydroelectric plant; no damage was reported to either. Ukraine says it is responding to Russian attacks on its own data sites. Russia's digital development ministry said this week it was in talks with the military on protecting data centers, while some lawmakers called for moving hardware underground.
Sources:
Reuters via GMA News: Ukrainian drones hit Russia's top data center in attack on AI ambitions
The strike hit the Balakovo data center owned by Sberbank, the country's largest bank and technology company. Sberbank first deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin confirmed the attack to reporters but said all of the bank's systems and services were operating normally and without disruption. It followed three attacks in the past week on data centers owned by Russian technology group Yandex.
Putin holds unannounced security meeting
President Vladimir Putin held a previously unannounced meeting on Wednesday with top officials on "information security", in which Sberbank CEO German Gref took part. The Kremlin said the meeting was not linked to the attacks on the data centers.
Russia's state RIA Novosti news agency reported in 2024 that the Sberbank center hit on Wednesday would host the country's biggest supercomputer, scheduled to go into operation in 2027. The Yandex data centers hit earlier hosted all three of that company's operating supercomputers. Neither company has said whether supercomputers used to train AI models were damaged.
Sanctions squeeze Russia's AI hardware
Along with Yandex, Sberbank is Russia's leading developer of artificial intelligence, with the domestic market shared between Sberbank's GigaChat model and YandexGPT. Both companies have invested heavily but lag global leaders by up to nine months, according to Sberbank's own estimates, partly because Western sanctions hinder access to the most advanced hardware.
"The equipment is being imported, but it's done at a high cost, through indirect routes," IT expert Mikhail Klimarev told Reuters, warning that damage to the supercomputers could set back the Russian AI industry.
The Sberbank site draws power from the nearby Balakovo nuclear power plant and the Saratov hydroelectric plant; no damage was reported to either. Ukraine says it is responding to Russian attacks on its own data sites. Russia's digital development ministry said this week it was in talks with the military on protecting data centers, while some lawmakers called for moving hardware underground.
Sources:
Reuters via GMA News: Ukrainian drones hit Russia's top data center in attack on AI ambitions
