Russia plans to invest billions in AI, remove all barriers for ‘tech pioneers’

Russian laws must be amended to facilitate the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI), Vladimir Putin said. The Russian President had earlier asserted that AI will become the key to world dominance in the future.

The solutions based on AI may be more expensive than traditional ones at the start, but “afterwards, they’ll provide for such a huge leap forward that all of the initial investments will be repaid,” Putin said, during a high-profile meeting on artificial intelligence in Moscow.

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If Russia wants to achieve this “it’s important to remove legal and administrative barriers for ‘technological pioneering’, but without forgetting about the security of the state, society and maintaining the rights of citizens.”

Intellectual property in the AI sector must be thoroughly protected and conditions for patenting those technologies in Russia created, he told the ministers in attendance.

Another important task will be the creation and legal regulation of a state-of-the-art infrastructure for storing and processing the data required for the development of artificial intelligence algorithms.

“Special conditions” for private investments in AI programs must be provided in the country, Putin said. But he also agreed that development in the field should also be promoted through government contracts.

The state must make sure that the introduction of artificial intelligence by Russian companies allows them to organically get hold of the market both in the domestically and internationally, he added.

The federal project on artificial intelligence will be presented by the government until October at the latest. If approved, it’ll see 90 million rubles (around $1.4 billion) invested in AI during a six-year period.

Before the meeting, the President was shown Russia’s latest developments in artificial intelligence. Cognitive Technologies group has already made a name for itself by producing software and sensors for driverless cars and locomotives. The company said that it had managed to reduce the price of its 4d imaging radars to just $100-a-piece and earned more than $220,000 after exhibiting in Detroit – that’s the sanctions war unleashed by Washington against Moscow.

Putin has been exhibiting an increased interest in artificial intelligence in recent years, once telling students that “whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”

He also said that further introduction of AI into the military may allow Russia to nullify the gap in defense spending with the US and achieve parity without joining the arms race and establishing numerous bases abroad.

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