Russian businesses are discussing with the government preferential loans and leasing for servers and graphics processing units (GPUs), which are used for training and operating modern neural networks. The reason is the high cost of computing infrastructure, without which AI development is becoming increasingly expensive.
With a key rate of 14%, purchasing servers through leasing over two to four years can cost a company 15–25% more than the initial price. One option for support is state compensation for part of the interest rate to lower the entry barrier for AI developers and customers.
Subsidies for the construction and modernization of data centers, preferential leasing of computing power, and shared access centers are also being considered. The total amount of planned state support for the industry is estimated at approximately 71.7 billion rubles.
However, the program has a contradiction: federal benefits usually apply to Russian equipment, while there is no mass production of domestic GPUs comparable to leading foreign accelerators yet. Specific terms of support have not yet been approved.
Read more on the topic:
- RBC: AI Developers Asked for 450 Billion Rubles from the Budget for a Data Center, but Were Refused
- AI devoured the entire cloud: GPU power consumption in Russia increased by 507%
- Russian AI market soared by almost 30%: it doubled in two years, reaching 316 billion rubles