Ukraine is wiping out Russian data centers, setting its AI race back (fortune.com)

Ukrainian drone strikes have severely damaged key Russian data centers, including facilities operated by Yandex, Sberbank, and VKontakte, disrupting vital digital services across the country. With significant infrastructure compromised, many businesses are experiencing widespread interruptions in cloud services, banking, e-commerce, and even judicial functions. Recovery efforts are expected to take months or even years, hindering Russia's ambitions to be a leader in AI development and potentially forcing companies to relocate their computing resources abroad as a means of safeguarding their operations. The attacks highlight the vulnerability of data centers, which have become prime targets in the ongoing conflict as both sides escalate aerial campaigns against each other’s infrastructure. As a result, Russia’s digital sovereignty policy, which mandates local data storage, may backfire, leading to increased reliance on foreign data hosting. Moreover, the damage inflicted on Yandex's three supercomputers, critical for AI model development, could further exacerbate Russia's technological lag behind nations like the U.S. and China, especially amid global chip shortages and sanctions hindering access to high-end computing components.