Avito invests more than 1 billion rubles in its own AI research department

Avito technology platform has announced the creation of a research and development (R&D) department specializing in artificial intelligence technologies. This was announced by the company's press service.

"The R&D department will help us adapt new technologies faster to the specifics of our platform and the needs of users. We plan not only to follow global trends, but also to set them," said Andrey Rybintsev, Managing Director of Artificial Intelligence at Avito.

It is planned to invest over 1 billion rubles in the project over three years, and the total amount of investments in the development of generative AI technologies by 2028 will amount to more than 12 billion rubles, Avito stressed.

The department was headed by Alexander Ryzhkov, one of ten four—time Kaggle Grandmasters in the world (the highest title in prestigious international machine learning competitions), who previously led research at the Sbera AI laboratory and developed the LightAutoML library. According to him, the division will work on the principle of rapid prototyping, which will allow us to quickly evaluate the effectiveness of new approaches and scale successful experiments.

Key research areas include generative models, computer vision, voice technologies, deepfake protection systems, and 3D visualization. The priority will be the integration of prototypes into Avito's services and cooperation with leading Russian universities.

The company is already implementing educational programs in the field of AI: a master's degree at MIPT, courses at TSU and AI, and in 2025 it will open three programs at the HSE and ITMO. Avito plans to train up to 3,000 specialists by 2028.

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