Putin instructs government agencies to look into using AI to solve crimes

Vladimir Putin has instructed multiple Russian government agencies to analyze the potential for using artificial intelligence to investigate crimes and to submit proposals for putting the idea into practice “if necessary.”

A list on the Kremlin’s official website shows that the assignment was given to the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General, the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry, and the Justice Ministry. The heads of these agencies were told to present their findings by July 1, 2024.

As of August 2023, there were more than 500,000 facial recognition cameras operating in Russia, The Moscow Times has reported. According to data from Russia’s Interior Ministry, nearly 2,500 people with active arrest warrants were identified on the Moscow metro system using facial recognition technology in 2022.