The lawyer assessed the risks of blocking foreign AI services

Russia may impose restrictions on foreign AI services if they transfer user data abroad, but this is not a complete ban. Digital lawyer Boris Gerasin told Izvestia about this on March 20.

"AI technologies that involve the migration of data about Russian users abroad are subject to restrictions. This is not about a complete ban, but about controlling the movement of data, including personal information and query history," he said.

Gerasin explained that the services will be able to continue operating in Russia, provided the data is localized. In particular, user information must be stored on the territory of the Russian Federation for at least three years. The requirements may primarily affect large platforms with a wide audience.

"For violations of the requirements, for example, for the lack of localization, severe fines are provided — up to 6 million rubles for the first violation and three times more for repeated violations," the lawyer explained.

In addition, according to him, there remains a risk of civil lawsuits in the event of a leak of personal data. Reputational consequences are also possible both for the services themselves and for companies using such platforms in their activities.

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How will this affect different sectors of the Russian economy

On March 18, the Ministry of Finance developed a draft federal law on the regulation of artificial intelligence, according to which all stages of the development and training of AI models will have to take place in Russia. Also, all audio-visual materials created with the help of AI must contain a special warning label. Large social networks are required to check its availability or label the content themselves.

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