Russia splits AI oversight across two government departments

The Russian government has formalized a dedicated function to coordinate artificial intelligence development, according to an order signed on July 6, 2026, by Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff Dmitry Grigorenko Kommersant. The document divides responsibilities between two existing administrative bodies by creating specialized subdivisions within them.

Under the new structure, the Project Activity Department will oversee the implementation of AI technologies across the Russian economy and federal executive bodies. Meanwhile, the Control Department will handle internal AI applications within the government apparatus itself. Officials stated that no new staff units are being created; instead, employees are being reassigned from existing divisions.

The digital vice-prime minister's office explained that AI matters were previously handled through isolated projects and individual directives. The restructuring aims to establish independent responsibility, improve implementation efficiency through unified monitoring, and reduce duplicated tasks. A government subcommission on AI has set roughly 200 target indicators for 20 ministries across 13 industries for 2026, with Ministry of Digital Development acting as the primary coordinator.

Internal testing of AI tools within the government has already taken place. A six-month pilot project involving 130 employees across eight divisions tested services such as Alisa AI and AI Studio, Neyroyurist from Yandex, and GigaChat from Sber for text processing and analytics. Following the pilot, authorities decided to scale the tools across all government divisions and integrate them with electronic document management systems.

Source: habr