Far Eastern Regions Back AI Data Center Project in Yakutia
The project is intended to become a key part of the Far East's broader digital transformation.
Far Eastern regions have backed a project to build a new data center in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to support the development of artificial intelligence technologies. The announcement came at an interregional meeting attended by representatives of Yakutia, the Jewish Autonomous Region, Zabaykalsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, Kamchatka Krai, and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Pyotr Nikolaev, Yakutia's minister of innovation, digital development, and information and communications technologies, said the project is expected to become a key component of the digital transformation of the entire Far Eastern Federal District. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously expressed interest in the initiative.
The new data center is expected to have an initial capacity of 1.4 megawatts, with the potential to expand to 4.2 megawatts. Locating the facility in Yakutia offers several advantages. The region's cold climate will allow the equipment to be cooled using outside air. Access to abundant local energy resources is another important factor. The computing infrastructure will serve large businesses, universities, technology parks, IT companies, and government agencies across the Far Eastern Federal District.
The project is scheduled for further discussion at the fifth federal Tsifrovoy Almaz (Digital Diamond) forum, which is set to take place in Yakutsk from December 3 to 5. A dedicated track will focus on the initiative. At previous editions of the forum, experts, business leaders, and government representatives repeatedly stressed the critical importance of building sovereign data center infrastructure. Without modern, high-performance data centers, they argued, it is impossible to train AI models effectively or ensure Russia's digital autonomy.
