AI Takes the Hotline: How Russia Uses Neural Networks to Process Nationwide Citizen Messages
Russia has begun deploying AI at federal scale to process citizen feedback for major government events. The integration of neural networks into national communication workflows signals the country’s next phase of digital governance — one focused on faster analysis, stronger public-service responsiveness, and practical AI applications that can be replicated internationally.
AI on the Presidential Line: A New Era of Citizen Engagement
A neural network is now playing an active role in preparing one of Russia’s most visible government communication events. GigaChat, the large language model developed by Sber, processed more than 70,000 citizen messages submitted ahead of the upcoming combined press conference and Direct Line with President Vladimir Putin.
Each message is analyzed in roughly seven seconds, with the AI categorizing it by: the author’s gender, age, region and the topic of the request.
The top themes include social policy, the special military operation, economic issues, government and society, and infrastructure.
The event, “Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin,” is scheduled for December 19. The first use of AI for message analysis occurred during the 2024 Direct Line, and its adoption is now becoming routine.
The scale of submissions reflects the breadth of civic engagement across Russia. At the same time, it showcases how integrating AI into federal communications can boost the domestic tech industry. Public-facing applications of machine learning and NLP at this level are significant demonstrations for both policymakers and developers — evidence of how AI can help governments analyze, categorize, and act on citizen demands more effectively.
Such tools also support more targeted decision-making. By structuring large volumes of citizen feedback, officials gain clearer insight into national priorities. For international observers, this example represents a growing trend toward AI-enabled e-government, where intelligent systems enhance citizen-state interaction.
A Showcase for the Domestic AI Industry
Deploying AI in real-time communication with residents — as in the use of GigaChat — could become a standard for organizing public events, town halls, surveys, and large-scale civic initiatives. This approach:
- reduces the workload for human operators,
- speeds up data processing,
- and systematizes public input across regions and demographic groups.
Within Russia, these capabilities can be expanded to include feedback collection for public services, monitoring of social sentiment, analysis of complaints and proposals, and continuous citizen consultation.
The system also serves as a showcase for Russia’s growing GovTech ecosystem. GigaChat demonstrates Sber’s technological potential and highlights the maturity of Russian NLP research. This visibility may lead to increased government demand for similar monitoring and analytics platforms, a boost for domestic AI developers, and deeper integration of AI into public administration.
Although exporting the system as a finished product may be limited — because it is tightly integrated into Russia’s specific governance processes — the underlying methodology can serve as an adaptable technological case study for international partners.
A Global Shift: From E-Government to AI-Government
GigaChat’s adoption in 2024 marked the first large-scale use of a language model for handling citizen submissions in Russia. Since then, both domestic and global trends have strengthened the shift from traditional e-government systems toward AI-augmented public administration.
Research worldwide shows that governments are increasingly introducing chatbots and AI assistants to: process citizen inquiries, reduce administrative burdens, speed up service delivery and automate repetitive tasks.
International parallels exist. For instance, South Africa operates GovChat, a public-private platform that enables residents to interact with government agencies through messaging services, submit service requests, and file complaints.
Russia’s approach fits into this global pattern while providing its own scalable model: one where AI assists not just with service delivery but also with nationwide civic consultations.
AI Hearings: Toward Continuous Public Feedback Loops
GigaChat represents a foundational layer in the digitalization of communication between citizens and government. Over the next several years, the number and variety of such AI tools are expected to grow.
However, increasing public trust in AI-driven civic systems will depend on transparency — especially around:
- how messages are processed,
- how decisions are formulated,
- and how user data remains anonymized and protected.
For Russia's IT sector, this case may stimulate investment and accelerate development in NLP, big data analytics, and civic AI tools designed for government agencies.
In the long term, the country could move from single annual events like the Direct Line toward continuous, near-year-round “digital public hearings” powered by AI. Such a system would create a more dynamic, efficient, and data-driven interaction model between citizens and the state.
