IVANA STRADNER and EMILY HESTER
As the AI competition between the United States and China heats up, Vladimir Putin is desperate to have a horse in the race. The Russian president views AI as a core pillar of Moscow’s long-term plan to challenge Western dominance. After three years of Western sanctions devastating Russia’s economy,
spurring a massive brain drain and hindering the country’s innovative capacity, Moscow has turned to the BRICS bloc, whose founding members include Brazil, Russia, India, China,
and South Africa, to build a parallel AI ecosystem. Washington must stop viewing BRICS as a politically benign organization and recognize that it is a powerful vehicle for Moscow to expand its international influence and strengthen Russia’s AI capabilities.
“Those who will secure leadership in this domain will become the global master,” Putin proclaimed in 2017. Since then, he has implemented a series of strategic directives intended to catalyze Russia’s AI sector. Putin’s 2021 National Security Strategy stresses the integration of advanced technologies, including AI,
to bolster national defense and economic resilience. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ 2023 Concept of the Foreign Policy emphasizes the importance of AI industry growth and strategic cooperation with BRICS. And last year,
Russia updated its National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence through 2030, which outlines the formation of research and development programs to prepare “Russian artificial intelligence technologies to occupy a significant share of the global market.”
For Putin, BRICS constitutes the ideal route for international collaboration. Over the past year, the group has doubled from five to 10 members, adding Egypt, Ethiopia,
Indonesia, Iran, and United Arab Emirates. The bloc now comprises 35 percent of the global economy. With an additional dozen nations it has designated as “partner countries,” BRICS is evolving into a strategic hub for AI development and governance.
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