Russia - AI Development Strategy (124/2024)

Overview

Presidential Decree No. 124, signed on 15 February 2024, amends Presidential Decree No. 490 (10 October 2019) and substantially updates the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence until 2030. The amendment—approximately forty pages of additions and clarifications—reaffirms the Strategy as the principal governmental framework for state policy, federal projects and sectoral strategic planning related to AI in Russia. The update revises strategic tasks and targets to 2030, expands the Strategy's conceptual apparatus, and adjusts priorities in light of technological advances and the economic and geopolitical changes of 2022–2023.

Definitions

The amended Strategy expands and clarifies its terminological framework to align with recent advances in AI architectures. Notable definitional updates include:

- "Large/fundamental models": described as AI models that serve as bases for creating and fine‑tuning diverse software, trained to recognize patterns, containing at least 1 billion parameters and applicable to many different tasks.

- "Generative models": introduced or clarified as part of the Strategy's conceptual apparatus.

- Additional technical terms related to computing resources, datasets, software ecosystems and foundation-model architectures, enabling more precise strategic planning for compute, data and software layers.

Governance and Institutional Framework

Governance of the Strategy continues to be coordinated among the Presidential Administration, relevant federal ministries and agencies, the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and the federal project management bodies. The federal AI project remains the key implementation vehicle. Decree No. 124 strengthens coordination mandates by instructing federal executive bodies to use the updated Strategy when preparing sectoral strategic planning documents and state programs. The update formally requires integration of the federal AI project into the national Data Economy project, consolidating oversight and funding streams for AI-related initiatives.

Key Focus Areas

• Expanded definitions and conceptual apparatus, including foundation/large models and generative models.
• Quantitative targets and sectoral readiness goals for 2030 (examples include targets for AI services revenue, numbers of graduates in AI-related fields, and public trust/sectoral AI readiness indicators).
• Integration of the federal AI project into the national project for formation of the data economy (administrative milestone: by 1 July 2024).
• Strengthening technological sovereignty, including emphasis on domestic software and hardware solutions and import substitution in critical technologies.
• Addressing compute capacity constraints (expansion of domestic compute resources and infrastructure planning).
• Workforce development and education targets to increase the pipeline of AI specialists.
• Ethical, legal and data‑protection requirements for public‑sector AI deployments, including obligations for agencies to account for these in design and procurement.
• Regulatory and administrative barriers: instruction to ministries and regulators to propose necessary legal or normative acts to operationalize Strategy provisions.

Implementation Framework

The updated Strategy sets out an implementation framework relying on federal projects, state programs and sectoral strategic planning. Key implementation elements include the following obligations and mechanisms:

- Formal instruction for the federal executive authorities to align sectoral planning, state programs and budgets with the updated Strategy's goals and indicators.

- Mandatory inclusion of the federal project "Artificial Intelligence" within the national project for formation of the data economy by no later than 1 July 2024; this is intended to consolidate oversight, funding and evaluation criteria.

- Federal executive bodies, state corporations and organizations implementing state policy in science, education, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity and industrial sectors are within scope and tasked with adapting planning documents and procurement practices to the Strategy.

- Emphasis on state support for R&D, infrastructure (including compute resources), education and the fostering of domestic solutions (software and hardware), with associated project management and budgetary measures to support implementation to 2030.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Strategy requires federal authorities to report annually on implementation progress. Monitoring and evaluation are to be conducted through project management bodies and integration within federal program oversight. Specific operational requirements include measurable milestones for sectoral AI readiness, workforce targets, domestic software/hardware uptake planning, and other quantitative indicators set for the 2030 horizon. The update mandates administrative reporting and inclusion of Strategy indicators in sectoral planning and state programs; ministries and project managers are responsible for documenting progress as part of annual implementation monitoring.

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

The updated Strategy is a high‑level policy instrument and does not itself establish new criminal or administrative penalties. Enforcement is effected through mandated integration into federal programs, budgetary allocation, project management and administrative oversight. Where implementation requires changes to regulatory instruments or norms, respective ministries and regulators are instructed to develop and propose legal or normative acts; such subsequent regulations would set out any enforcement measures, penalties or procedural remedies in accordance with the usual legal and administrative frameworks of the Russian Federation. The Strategy emphasizes compliance with data protection, information security and ethical principles but leaves specifics of liability and appeal procedures to implementing regulations.

Relationship to Other Instruments

The amendment modifies and operates together with Presidential Decree No. 490 (10 October 2019) and the federal project documents that operationalize the Strategy. It interfaces with national projects (notably the national project for formation of the data economy), state programs, data protection legislation and information‑security policy. Federal bodies are instructed to align sectoral strategic planning, state programs and government procurement practices with the Strategy; further sectoral regulatory acts may be developed to operationalize specific obligations, standards and procurement criteria.

International Alignment

The update was adopted to take account of economic and geopolitical changes in 2022–2023 and technological advances (including the emergence of large generative models). It increases emphasis on technological sovereignty and import substitution in critical technologies in response to restricted access to certain Western AI technologies following geopolitical tensions. The Strategy’s focus on domestic compute capacity, domestic solutions and workforce development reflects these international and geopolitical considerations; the update does not itself establish new international agreements but seeks to position national AI policy within the altered international environment.

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References