Russia's next Duma could get an AI committee chaired by a co-author of the 'foreign agents' law

United Russia party leader Dmitry Medvedev has announced that Russia's next State Duma will include a new committee dedicated to digital development and artificial intelligence. The party has put forward Alexander Sidyakin to chair it.

Sidyakin, 48, has served three previous terms in the State Duma and has led United Russia's central executive committee since 2021.

According to a source cited by the business newspaper Vedomosti, the new committee would oversee technological development across several areas of the "new economy," including online marketplaces, drones, and artificial intelligence. The source said it would also supervise creative industries.

A history tied to the 'foreign agents' law

Sidyakin is known as one of the principal authors of a 2012 bill that established Russia's "foreign agent" designation for NGOs engaged in political activity that received funding from abroad. At the time, he told Interfax there were only two options: either speculate about and grow outraged over supposed multimillion payments from foreign ministries meant to promote democracy, or grant foreign agents formal legal status and treat them explicitly as representing other countries' interests.

Sidyakin also sponsored legislation that sharply raised fines for violations during public rallies, up to 1.5 million rubles. That bill passed in the aftermath of the May 6, 2012 protests on Bolotnaya Square.