Russia warns AI will give nations ‘nuclear-like’ power
Artificial intelligence is set to grant unprecedented global influence — on a scale comparable to nuclear weapons — to countries that can lead the technology, Russia’s top AI executive has said.
Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy CEO of Sberbank, told at Russia’s AI Journey event that a new “nuclear club” is emerging: countries will either develop their own national large language models (LLMs) or risk falling behind, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“AI is like a nuclear project,” Vedyakhin said. “It is impossible to upload confidential information into a foreign model. Only Russian models should handle state data.”
Vedyakhin emphasized that Russia needs at least two or three original AI models — not retrained foreign models — for sensitive applications such as healthcare, education, and online public services.
President Vladimir Putin recently stressed that home-grown AI is critical for national sovereignty.
Sberbank and tech giant Yandex are leading Russia’s push to catch up with U.S. and Chinese rivals.
Vedyakhin acknowledged that Western sanctions make it difficult for Russia to match global leaders in computing power. He also warned that high energy consumption could delay or reduce returns on AI investments, urging caution against hype-driven spending.
“Excessive investments in AI infrastructure may fail to pay off, given the rapid pace of technological development,” he said. He added that Russia is insulated from an “AI bubble” because its investments remain measured.
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