Putin says AI technologies are the future

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are no less vital now than nuclear or rocket initiatives in the USSR - they are the future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on July 19.

"We are well aware that this (AI technologies - TASS) is the future," he said.

"In terms of its significance for the country - for any country - this is no less significant than the Soviet Union's nuclear or rocket project, which was carried out in the mid-1940s and 1950s," Putin added.

In turn, CEO of Sberbank Herman Gref said that Sber annually invests about $1 billion in the development of artificial intelligence and the return reaches $3 billion.

"All efforts aimed at achieving specific goals in this area, of course, must be supported," Putin said.