Eurasia Needs an Innovation Corridor for Artificial Intelligence

The world is currently in the midst of an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, and Eurasia has a unique opportunity to drive the future of this transformative technology. While much of the global discourse on AI revolves around competition between nations like the U.S. and China, the conversation should shift toward collaboration, particularly between Russia and China. Together, these two powerful nations could create an AI innovation corridor that not only benefits their domestic ecosystems but positions them at the forefront of global AI development.

The Case for Collaboration

The prevailing narrative around AI often includes references to a "race" for supremacy, but this metaphor is misplaced. Unlike a race, innovation in AI thrives on collaboration. The synergy between China and Russia could enhance their respective strengths and propel both nations to greater heights. Given their longstanding scientific exchange and geographical proximity, Russia and China are in a prime position to work together, combining their strengths in a way that neither country could achieve alone.

A collaborative approach will benefit from the shared talent pool, technological ecosystems, and research capabilities across both nations. Historically, talent from countries like China and Russia has often flowed westward, with the brightest minds heading to Silicon Valley or other Western tech hubs. But this trend could be reversed by redirecting the mobility of these researchers, encouraging them to work together on ambitious projects that span the Eurasian landmass.

Complementary Strengths in AI

One of the core advantages of a partnership between Russia and China is the complementarity of their strengths. China boasts the world's largest cohort of AI scientists, along with vast public cloud infrastructure that powers a wide range of AI applications. Meanwhile, Russia, with its deep-rooted tradition in mathematical rigor, excels in areas such as optimization, probabilistic modeling, and physics-informed learning. Together, these strengths form a powerful combination—large-scale infrastructure from China paired with Russia's cutting-edge research in algorithmic development.

Examples of this synergy are already visible. In 2021, Russian tech giant Sber collaborated with Huawei to launch a "Smart Campus," integrating Sber’s voice assistant technology, Salute, with Huawei’s edge devices. The success of this partnership has since led to the creation of SberCloud-Advanced, a comprehensive cloud suite that powers various workloads across Russia. This collaboration demonstrates the potential of harnessing complementary expertise from both nations to create innovative, scalable solutions.

Academia is also leading the way in fostering cross-border collaboration. The Skoltech AI Center in Russia and the Harbin Institute of Technology in China will host SMILES-2025, a 12-day summer school designed to gather early-career researchers. This program will focus on generative models and safe reinforcement learning, while also offering hackathons on issues relevant to both nations, such as rice-disease detection and polar route navigation. By addressing shared climatic and economic challenges, this academic initiative is a step toward building stronger research ties between Russia and China.

Building Stronger Connections

A key factor in fostering collaboration is the establishment of reliable working links between research institutions. Skoltech’s Laboratory of Superconducting Quantum Technologies, for example, is collaborating with Tsinghua University in China to explore approaches to error mitigation in multi-qubit superconducting circuits. This partnership is part of a broader effort to drive innovation at the quantum scale, with both nations leveraging their expertise to tackle global challenges.

On the computational side, the Skoltech AI&Supercomputing Laboratory is working with the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) to apply deep learning techniques to high-power laser systems. This partnership aims to advance the development of compact particle accelerators and photon sources for cancer therapy, an example of how shared technological resources can create real-world solutions for pressing issues like healthcare.

Policy Support for Innovation

Governments in both Russia and China can amplify the momentum of this AI innovation corridor through targeted public policies. One practical measure could be the introduction of bilateral compute vouchers, which would allow Russian mathematicians to train large AI models on China’s public GPU clouds, while Chinese researchers refine medical diagnosis networks using Russian clinical datasets. An open data charter covering shared interests, such as climate risk, industrial safety, and weather, could further facilitate collaboration by pooling resources for continental-scale forecasting.

Cross-border "lighthouse" projects could serve as exemplars of this collaboration. For instance, joint initiatives like hydropower prediction for both the Baikal and Yangtze basins, or federated multimodal cancer imaging, could be co-funded by provincial governments in both countries and staffed by mixed academic-industry teams. By combining resources and expertise, Russia and China could address challenges that would otherwise be beyond their individual capacities.

Additionally, creating a shared PhD pipeline with dual supervision would allow graduates to be trained in both Russian and Chinese methodologies, equipping them with a unique perspective on problem-solving that could drive future innovations. These graduates would not only contribute to the academic communities in both countries but also act as catalysts for continued collaboration.

A Leap Toward the Future

By fostering stronger ties between Russia and China, Eurasia has the potential to become a global leader in artificial intelligence. The complementary strengths of these two nations, when combined with strategic government support and academic partnerships, could create a powerful AI innovation corridor that benefits both countries and the world.

If the collaboration between Russia and China continues to grow, the region could soon surpass existing AI hubs, setting the global pace for innovation. With AI algorithms written in both Cyrillic and Chinese characters, Eurasia could become the center of technological advancement, inspiring the rest of the world to follow its lead.

Conclusion

Eurasia’s collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence represents an exciting frontier for global innovation. By capitalizing on the complementary strengths of Russia and China, both countries can build a unified, powerful AI ecosystem that could redefine the technological landscape. With continued investment in talent, research, and public policy, Eurasia could soon become the world’s leading hub for AI innovation.