Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The law is meant to support the development of AI in Russia.
The global race to control artificial intelligence is changing how nations guard their digital borders.
As technology reshapes everyday life, governments are scrambling to decide who controls the code and what rules it must follow.
Now, Russia is taking a highly unusual step to make sure its machines think exactly like its leaders.
Moral machine rules
The State Duma recently passed a new law designed to regulate how artificial intelligence develops within the country. Under the legislation, any major AI system must now align with “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values” to receive official backing.
According to The Moscow Times, the new rules split technology into two distinct categories. First, a “sovereign” model must be built entirely by Russian companies. Every part of the process, from training the software to storing data, must take place inside local data centers.
The second tier is a “national” model. These systems can use open-source foreign components, but they still have to keep their data on Russian soil. The government will determine how to test these tools for moral alignment at a later date.
Control and copyright
This law changes how technological power is distributed. The president will now approve the overarching technology strategy, while the government decides when companies must use these approved models. Lawmakers also rejected a plan to require platforms to label all AI-generated content.
Instead, large sites with more than 500,000 daily users only need to offer a tool for labeling. The creators themselves will choose the format. Owners must also clearly tell users who owns the rights to any generated content.
Tech firms also get a boost in data collection. Using copyrighted material to train AI is permitted, as long as developers obtain the files legally. Vyacheslav Volodin, the State Duma Speaker, described the text as a framework law that will take effect on September 1, 2026.
Exporting the vision
Moscow is already looking beyond its own borders. With an eye on the global market, the country wants to sell these custom systems to other regions. Alexander Vedyakhin, a top executive at Sberbank, told Reuters that Russia wants to market these tools to countries in the Global South as an alternative to Western technology.
Vedyakhin admitted these models might lack some features compared with leading foreign rivals. Even so, they will take into account “local mentality and traditions” to match the values of each nation.
