Ukraine is developing a sovereign AI system using Google’s open source Gemma to secure full national control, address local-language needs, and strengthen wartime resilience.
Ukraine has launched a landmark national AI initiative, building a fully sovereign large language model (LLM) using Google’s open source Gemma framework. The project aims to give Ukraine complete control over its AI systems, ensuring they serve both military and civilian purposes while avoiding dependency on foreign, closed AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The AI will be trained to handle Ukrainian context, dialects, and minority languages, including Crimean Tatar and regional blends of Ukrainian, Russian, and Bulgarian, addressing the shortcomings of existing models. Officials emphasise that this localisation will improve accuracy in legal, cultural, and military applications.
Oleksandr Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, stated:
“avoiding reliance on systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT was intentional, as Ukraine’s armed forces plan to integrate AI into battlefield management systems for troop coordination and enemy monitoring.”
The system will initially be trained on secure Google GPU infrastructure abroad, before moving entirely to local servers to ensure sovereignty and protect against ongoing Russian strikes. Misha Nestor, Chief Product Officer at Kyivstar, highlighted issues in current AI outputs, noting problems like mistranslations in legal documents and AI-generated errors.
Gemma was selected after reviewing alternatives, including Meta’s Llama, Mistral AI, and Chinese models such as DeepSeek and Qwen. Experts describe Gemma as highly efficient, supporting 128,000-token multilingual and multimodal processing, making it ideal for Ukraine’s needs.
Data from over 90 government institutions will train the AI, providing richer context than global general-purpose models. Cybersecurity measures are being implemented to protect the system against prompt injection attacks and other threats. Kyivstar has installed 3,500+ backup generators to maintain operations during Russian strikes.
