Armenian official dismisses Russian claim that Firebird AI center could serve U.S. intelligence interests
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Armenia’s Minister of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence Davit Tadevosyan has dismissed comments by a Russian military expert aired on Russian television claiming that the Firebird AI data center in Hrazdan could serve U.S. intelligence interests.
Asked at a press briefing to comment on a Vesti program during which Russian military expert Alexey Leonkov made the claim, Tadevosyan said he considered the assessment politically motivated.
“I think it is a politically motivated assessment,” the minister said.
Asked whether the center could be used for intelligence purposes, Tadevosyan responded with an analogy involving a car, saying that a “car could also be used to commit a crime, but that this is not a reason to ban the use of cars.”
The minister also invited those raising concerns about possible risks to submit specific information in writing to the ministry.
“Any such speculation is possible, but it is politically motivated; it is not serious. If there are any facts, present them, and we will be happy to sit down, discuss them and understand,” Tadevosyan said.
Asked how much the United States has invested in the project, the minister said that a consortium of Armenian financial institutions had participated in its financing.