Russia's first large model law takes effect: control prioritized over capability building

Russia's first comprehensive law targeting large foundation models took effect on September 1; the law was signed by Putin on July 26, and its core is to establish a support and control framework for eligible large model developers, rather than to manage AI risks. The law establishes two statuses, sovereign and domestic, requiring developers to be Russian legal entities, with generation and storage of user queries to be completed in data centers within Russia, and subject to assessments consistent with Russian law and traditional values, though the assessment procedures and award rules still await government resolutions. Those granted status can receive state support, participate in policy-making, and enter protected markets, and the government can also designate application scenarios where only these two types of models may be used. The law leaves important implementation details to subsequent government rules, including rules for model use in areas such as national defense, national security, counterterrorism, and public administration, and does not stipulate prohibitions, human rights impact assessments, or independent oversight. On copyright, from March 2027, temporary reproduction of works in computer memory for training sovereign or domestic large models does not constitute infringement, and this exception is tied to the model's legal status.