Sber CEO: Generative AI still isn't paying for itself anywhere in the world

Generative artificial intelligence has yet to turn a profit for any company worldwide, Sber CEO German Gref said on Thursday.

Gref said the bank's overall AI spending remains profitable only because Sber began developing these technologies roughly 15 years ago. "If we hadn't invested in the previous cycle, we would feel quite uncertain today," he explained.

Unlike some foreign corporations-Apple among them-Sber did not skip the neural network development stage, the executive noted. Instead, the bank chose a full-cycle development strategy.

"We are among the companies that develop the entire AI cycle. This is also because we remain the only player on the market developing the full technology stack tied to sovereign models," Gref stressed.

He specified this covers large language models, healthcare solutions, and systems for generating images and video as well as controlling robots. Gref added that leaving this market is impossible: Russia needs its own competencies and sovereign artificial intelligence.

Earlier, the Sber chief warned of declining returns from AI deployment over the next three years, saying the organization will have to increase investment in the segment.