Russia Wants AI Sovereignty. It Has a Chip Problem

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Russia Wants AI Sovereignty. It Has a Chip Problem

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by Nikita Ostrovsky<br>Open follow modalPersonalized Content

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Jun 18, 2026 6:18 PM CUT

In a pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the development of AI in Moscow on April 10, 2026.

In a pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the development of AI in Moscow on April 10, 2026.Alexander Kazakov—AFP/Getty Images

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Jun 18, 2026 6:18 PM CUT

In early April, on a stage in the southwestern outskirts of Moscow, a moderator at Russia’s annual Data Fusion conference wanted to know: what is the most important thing for Russia to get right in its quest to develop an AI ecosystem?

The six men on the stage before her represented Russia’s second-largest bank, the state nuclear power company, and the Ministry of Digital Development. Instead, she started with the only person joining via video link.

“Katerina Vladimirovna,” she said, referring to the pale face, whose credential at the conference was managing director of a small research and development foundation, by her patronymic. “Your answer, please.”

“Talent is everything,” replied Vladimir Putin’s younger daughter, whose full name is Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova, knowingly or not echoing a 1935 address by Joseph Stalin. “Everything else is a consequence of talent.” The panelists were quick to agree. And yet, there are reasons to doubt that the talent that Russia is capable of developing is sufficient to overcome Russia’s structural weaknesses in AI.

In recent months, Russian authorities and institutions have made a concerted push to develop homegrown AI talent. Vladimir Putin has established a Presidential Commission on AI and changed national curricula to emphasize the technology. Moscow State University, the nation’s most prestigious university, has established a new AI faculty, alongside an AI institute headed by Putin’s daughter. These moves seek to address the brain drain of top technical talent following the invasion of Ukraine by playing to a traditional Russian strength—upskilling members of a population of some 140 million people, which has historically seen success in the mathematical sciences. However, these moves do little to address Russia’s greatest weakness in AI: scarce access to indispensable hardware, due to limited domestic production capacity and stringent sanctions.

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‘Talent is everything’

In April, Russia’s main TV news channel depicted Moscow State University gilded in futuristic laser lines as the presenter announced a new AI faculty, due to welcome its first cohort of 72 students in September. The exclusive course, which is financially supported by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a Putin associate, spares no expense. More than half of the places are sponsored, waiving the $7,000 course fee, and the faculty is granted access to one of the nation’s most powerful supercomputers, unveiled in 2023. The faculty completes a “unified ecosystem” comprising an AI institute, headed by Putin’s daughter herself, which opened in 2020; a research center established in 2025; and now an educational body to train the next generation of experts.

Tikhonova’s post at the heart of the ecosystem is likely nepotistic, says Katheryna Bondar, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Tikhonova, who in a past life was an international rock ’n’ roll dancer, has a Ph.D. in mathematics, but has not published research in AI. However, the growth of the AI industry around her institute could...