Russia's Sber announces launch of ChatGPT rival GigaChat

Leading Russian technology company Sber has announced the launch of its conversational artificial intelligence app intended to rival the US star ChatGPT.

The state company said in a statement on its website on Monday that it was "launching its own version" of a chatbot, which will be called GigaChat – a first for Russia.

The Russian-language app is now only available by invitation in test mode.

Sber said GigaChat can "have a conversation, write messages, respond to factual questions" but also "write code" and "create images from descriptions".

Sber chief executive German Gref, who has spearheaded the company's digital transformation in recent years, said the launch was "a breakthrough for the whole vast universe of Russian technologies".

Tech competition

Russia has been strengthening its domestic technology sector in recent years, particularly since being hit by a barrage of Western sanctions after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive.

It has also been strengthening laws to regulate the sector, against a backdrop of growing political repression.

The launch of GigaChat comes in the wake of the runaway success of ChatGPT and is being seen by experts as the latest twist in Russia-US competition in technology.

ChatGPT's success sparked a gold rush among other tech firms and venture capitalists, with Google hurrying out its own chatbot and investors pouring cash into all manner of AI projects.

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