Russia seeks AI cooperation with China, Putin tells Xi

Russian President Vladimir Putin told China's Xi Jinping on Monday that Moscow wants to cooperate with Beijing on artificial intelligence and digital innovation, as the two leaders met in Kyrgyzstan.

Putin and Xi were in the Central Asian country for a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional bloc described in the supplied material as seeking to serve as a counterbalance to the West.

“Cooperation is successfully developing on all fronts,” Putin told Xi before their talks. The two leaders last met in Beijing in May.

“Digital innovations, including in artificial intelligence technologies, are also opening up new opportunities for the economic development of our countries,” Putin said.

The meeting comes as Russia has deepened ties with China, its main oil customer, while Moscow's troops remain bogged down in Ukraine. China has not condemned Moscow's four-and-a-half-year invasion.

The Kremlin has also sought tighter control over Russia's online sphere in recent months, including intermittent mass internet shutdowns and restrictions on popular messaging apps. Moscow is pushing Russians to use the state-backed Max messenger platform, which critics say raises privacy and surveillance concerns.