Putin to issue AI decree

The strategy will involve legal changes, international cooperation and more investment.

“In the very near future, as one of the first steps, a presidential decree will be signed and a new version of the national strategy for the development of artificial intelligence will be approved,” said Putin.

The strategy will “expand fundamental and applied research in the field of generative artificial intelligence and large language models,” he said.

A disadvantage for Putin is that thousands of his best tech brains have fled Russia to avoid the draft for the Ukraine war.

Putin said that Russian AI researchers should be given  better access to supercomputers, while  Russian scientific education about AI needed improvement.

“You cannot ban something. If we ban it then it will develop somewhere else and we will fall behind,” said Putin.

Some Western online search systems and generative models ignored or cancelled Russian language and culture, essentially assuming Russia did not exist, he alleged.

Putin said the ethical issues surrounding AI should take Russian culture into account.

“In all spheres of our life, humanity is beginning a new chapter of its existence,” said Putin, warning the conference that the West could develop a monopoly on AI.