Russian AI Models Rank Among Top Five Globally in Environmental Knowledge

Russia’s environmental watchdog is testing artificial intelligence as a tool to improve ecological oversight — and local neural networks are already showing world-class performance.

Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) is exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can support its work in environmental regulation. In partnership with the Higher School of Economics, the agency tested a variety of AI systems for their competence in ecology.

According to Rosprirodnadzor head Svetlana Radionova, the study assessed how well different AI models understand key environmental protection issues. Russian-developed neural networks from tech giants Yandex and Sber were included in the evaluation — and ranked among the top five performers globally.

Radionova said the aim of the project is to evaluate the potential for using AI within the agency. Rosprirodnadzor already leverages AI to identify companies failing to pay required environmental fees. Expanding AI usage could help streamline operations and enhance regulatory effectiveness.