Request to Open "Russian Pile" Dataset for Public Access

[mgrankin]

Dear Yandex Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my admiration for your work on the YaLM-100B model, which has demonstrated exceptional performance in generating and processing text in both English and Russian languages. Your dedication to providing this model for free use by developers and researchers worldwide is commendable.

As a researcher in the field of natural language processing, I am particularly interested in the dataset you have used to train the YaLM-100B model, specifically the 75% of the dataset consisting of Russian texts. I would like to respectfully request that you consider making this dataset, which I propose to call the "Russian Pile," openly available to the broader research community. Below are some strong arguments in favor of opening the dataset:

1. Accelerating progress in NLP research: By making the Russian Pile dataset available, you will be enabling researchers and developers worldwide to explore new opportunities and challenges in Russian NLP. This could lead to breakthroughs in various NLP tasks, including translation, sentiment analysis, and information extraction, ultimately accelerating the progress of NLP research for the Russian language.
2. Promoting reproducibility and transparency: Open datasets are essential for ensuring reproducibility and transparency in research. By opening the Russian Pile dataset, you will be enabling researchers to build upon your work, validate their findings, and contribute to a more robust and reliable body of knowledge in the field of NLP.
3. Encouraging collaboration and innovation: Providing open access to the Russian Pile dataset will stimulate collaboration among researchers, institutions, and industries. It will also foster innovation by enabling researchers to combine datasets and develop new techniques or applications, leading to novel solutions for existing problems and the discovery of unexplored research areas.
4. Bridging the gap between languages: By opening the Russian Pile dataset, you will be contributing to a more equitable distribution of resources in NLP research. Many languages are underrepresented in NLP, and the availability of a large-scale, high-quality dataset for Russian will help bridge this gap, promoting language diversity and enabling researchers to develop more inclusive AI systems.
5. Improving educational opportunities: Open datasets, like the Russian Pile, can serve as valuable resources for educational purposes. Students and educators can utilize the dataset to learn about NLP, data preprocessing, and various other aspects of AI research, enhancing their skills and contributing to the development of a skilled workforce in the field of AI and NLP.
6. Supporting ethics and fairness in AI: Open access to high-quality datasets, such as the Russian Pile, enables researchers to investigate and address issues related to ethics and fairness in AI. By providing a comprehensive and diverse dataset for the Russian language, you will be helping researchers to design and evaluate algorithms that are less biased and more equitable, thus contributing to the development of responsible AI systems.
7. Boosting competitiveness and economic growth: Open datasets can drive economic growth by stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship. By opening the Russian Pile dataset, you will be providing valuable resources for startups, businesses, and developers to build new products and services, encouraging technological advancements and fostering a competitive ecosystem in the field of AI and NLP.

In conclusion, I believe that making the Russian Pile dataset openly available will bring about numerous benefits for the global research community, promote language diversity, and contribute to the development of more inclusive and responsible AI systems. Your willingness to share the YaLM-100B model is already a significant contribution to the field, and opening the Russian Pile dataset would further solidify your commitment to openness and collaboration in AI research.

Thank you for considering this request. I am looking forward to your response and the potential positive impact that opening the Russian Pile dataset will have on the research community and beyond.

Sincerely,
Mikhail Grankin