Putin to Hold Emergency Cybersecurity Meeting Amid AI Threats

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold an emergency meeting with the country’s top officials to discuss cybersecurity threats, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, while denying that the meeting was prompted by recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian data centres.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that artificial intelligence (AI) has brought numerous benefits and improved operational efficiency. However, attempts to weaponise the technology pose a threat to the economies of countries worldwide.

“Russia is naturally no exception. We must be prepared for these challenges,” Peskov said, explaining the reason behind Putin’s decision to convene the meeting.

Peskov stressed that the meeting was unrelated to Ukrainian drone attacks on four Russian data centres over the past week. Government ministers and senior security officials are expected to attend, he added.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has carried out a drone attack on Russia’s largest data centre, according to Sberbank, the country’s largest bank and a major technology company that owns the facility.

Alexander Vedyakhin, a senior Sberbank executive, told reporters on Wednesday that the data centre had been attacked but that its operations had not been disrupted. All systems and services continued to function normally, he said.

The attack took place in the Saratov region, along the Volga River.

Earlier in the past week, three data centres owned by Russian technology company Yandex had also been targeted.

Ukraine has said it is carrying out such attacks in response to Russian strikes that have damaged its own data centres.

Sberbank and Yandex are among Russia’s leading developers of AI technology. Sberbank’s GigaChat and Yandex’s YandexGPT models are competing for a share of the country’s AI market.