President Putin issued the above directive after a conference on AI last month, tasking Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Sberbank CEO Herman Gref to lead the initiative. It is expected that the progress report will be published in April 2025, according to RT Radio on January 1.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council at the Igora resort in the Leningrad region of Russia on December 26, 2024.
The aim of this partnership is to tap into China’s AI expertise. Sberbank, a leader in AI development in Russia, has seen China as the main source of inspiration for many of its projects. Alexander Vedyakhin, first vice president of Sberbank, recently credited China’s AI breakthroughs with shaping Sberbank’s own ambitions.
China has invested heavily in AI, aiming to become a global leader in the field by 2030, according to the “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” launched in 2017.
China has rapidly deployed AI across a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare and transportation, and has led in AI patent applications, especially in Generative AI technology. From 2014-2023, Chinese entities filed more than 38,000 generative AI patents, accounting for about 70% of such applications worldwide, according to RT.
Chinese researchers have significantly increased their contributions to the AI literature. China surpassed the US in total AI-related journal citations in 2020, according to RT.
Mr. Putin challenged the West to a ‘technological duel’ with the Oreshnik missile
During the conference last month, President Putin also emphasized the need to increase efforts to develop AI in Russia. He called for expanding the use of AI in schools to improve student advising and learning, as well as supporting local governments to integrate AI into public administration. Mr. Putin said that AI has helped reduce robberies by 10.5 times and home thefts by 34.5 times.
Also last month, Putin introduced the first AI textbooks for students in grades 5 to 9. These textbooks provide an introduction to AI, detailing how it works. AI, how experts interact with AI, and how AI is applied across various industries.
“Russia must become a world leader not only in terms of innovation but also in terms of applying and integrating artificial intelligence into all areas of life without exception,” Mr. Putin emphasized.
