AI once again: domestic neural networks will be pre-installed on smartphones

Russia may introduce mandatory pre-installation of domestic AI on smartphones and other electronics. The government intends to introduce this provision into the upcoming law on the regulation of AI, Izvestia has learned. Artificial intelligence in smartphones is now gaining popularity — in 2025, it was present in 7% of devices sold in the Russian Federation, and in 2026 it will be 10%. The measure is designed to support domestic developers. But they will have to face fierce competition from foreign AI products, experts warn.

Is it possible to install domestic AI on imported gadgets

Installing AI on mobile devices and other electronics sold in the Russian Federation may become mandatory. This follows from the government's materials, which contain proposals for the draft law on the regulation of artificial intelligence.

The Ministry of Finance's document, prepared with these wishes in mind, should be sent to the government for approval by the end of February, a source close to several relevant departments said.

—Pre—installing domestic services on Russian devices is one of the measures that allows us to strengthen the technological independence of our country," said Dmitry Grigorenko, who oversees issues related to the development of artificial intelligence. — We have our own marketplaces, browser, antivirus, public services, and now our own large language models. Russians should be able to use high-quality domestic services, they believe.

The details of this measure are currently being worked out — based on the results of the collection of proposals at the Ministry of Finance, the development of a draft framework law on AI and its specific provisions will begin, the office of the Deputy Prime Minister added.

Izvestia also sent a request to the Ministry of Finance.

In Russia, since 2021, a law has already been in force on the mandatory pre-installation of domestic applications on smartphones, PCs and other electronics sold in our country. The list of such programs approved by the government for 2025 includes 40 applications: Yandex.Browser, Mail.Mail.ru ", VKontakte, cartographic services, online cinemas, media resources and much more.

In general, this rule is followed — manufacturers actively pre-install Russian applications on their devices (even those that are not on the list). Analysts call Yandex and Sberbank the largest developers of artificial intelligence for the mass market in the Russian Federation.

In modern geopolitical conditions, the development and promotion of domestic AI solutions is becoming a strategic priority. The pre—installation of Russian artificial intelligence on smartphones and other electronics is an extremely urgent measure now, market participants interviewed by Izvestia noted.

— This allows not only to reduce dependence on foreign software, but also to create a secure ecosystem for users. However, its implementation requires a balanced approach so as not to create an unnecessary burden on the market and manufacturers," said Yaroslav Siliverstov, a leading expert in the field of AI at University 2035.

Technically, this is a difficult but feasible task, he added: Russian companies have a number of developments in the field of mobile AI solutions that can be adapted.

The measure is relevant, especially considering the boom that exists in the world on the topic of artificial intelligence, a representative of the electronics manufacturer Fplus agrees.

— There is a successful experience of pre-installing Russian software on devices, and manufacturers cope with this requirement without any problems. By and large, there are no difficulties in scaling this experience to AI—related services," he believes.

The comprehensive interest in AI, as one of the main technological trends, is fully justified, said David Davidyan, Head of Smartphones and Accessories at Wildberries & Russ.

"Almost all owners of modern smartphones use AI tools on a daily basis, from voice assistants and audio transcription to photo enhancement, including very high-quality removal of unnecessary objects," he said. — The development of AI technologies is a global trend, and their functionality is constantly expanding, helping to solve an increasingly wide range of tasks.

Representatives of other electronics retailers did not comment on the possible innovation. There is nothing special about pre-installing Russian AI if the manufacturer is somehow present here and the Russian market is important to him, one of them noted.

Such an initiative will help create equal opportunities for Russian developers and provide a choice for domestic users, hopes a source of Izvestia close to one of the industry companies.

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Will Russian AI be in demand?

According to the Mobile Research Group, artificial intelligence is currently pre-installed on about 7% of smartphones sold in Russia. Samsung is the most advanced in this area, and there is AI in devices from a number of Chinese manufacturers, said Eldar Murtazin, the company's leading analyst. According to his forecast, by the end of 2026, the share of such devices will grow to 10%.

The development of artificial intelligence is among the priorities of the state — for its mass introduction and use, of course, the installation of such domestic products on consumer electronics is necessary, said Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily.

— Russian AI will face strong competition from foreign products — foreign manufacturers are already installing sufficiently advanced artificial intelligence on their equipment. Domestic developers need to improve the quality and expand the functionality of their solutions," the expert recommended.

— If Russian AI can offer users unique or improved features, for example, in the field of voice assistants, media processing, personal recommendations or offline work, it has a chance to gain loyalty. But this requires active work on user experience and integration into popular services," Yaroslav Siliverstov agrees.

Domestic AI is already in demand on mobile devices — often the user is simply not very aware that he is using it, Fplus noted.

— When a person sends a search query or goes into a chat in some service (banks or government agencies), it is almost 99% likely that he is not communicating with a live operator, but gets on the first line of communication with chatbots, — said the representative of the company. Therefore, we can say that consumers use AI services and communicate with them, often without realizing that this is happening.

The initiators of the AI pre-installation are probably referring to chatbots with generative artificial intelligence, such as Sberbank's GigaChat, says Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNewsResearch.

But there are also mobile applications for generating images or videos based on neural networks, such as Yandex's Masterpiece, document scanners with AI recognition, audio transcription systems with intelligent processing, and more, the expert noted.

Whether it is necessary to pre—install certain applications on smartphones and other gadgets is a philosophical question: the user will still install the applications that he likes and delete any that do not suit him, Leonid Konik concluded.