**Russia Accuses West of Pursuing ‘Neo-Colonial AI’ Dominance, Urges Multipolar Digital Order**
Russia has sharply criticized Western nations for allegedly weaponizing artificial intelligence (AI) to solidify global dominance, calling for a more equitable, multipolar approach to digital governance. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, writing in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, asserted that Western powers are using AI—and control over key technological resources—to entrench uneven power structures and perpetuate forms of digital neocolonialism targeting the developing world.
Zakharova’s remarks build on discussions from a recent meeting of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Collegium, focused on the political implications of emerging information and communication technologies. She contends that advances in AI are no longer merely a feat of scientific progress, but have become strategic instruments for influencing and controlling less powerful nations. According to Zakharova, economically advanced countries—referred to as the “golden billion”—are leveraging algorithmic governance, from logistics to education and healthcare, to steer the policies and public opinion of developing countries.
Central to her critique is the contest over rare-earth elements, essential components in AI and other high-tech sectors. Zakharova accuses Western nations of pursuing aggressive strategies to secure these resources from the Global South, arguing that such efforts amount to a modern form of resource exploitation reminiscent of colonial times.
She further alleges environmental double standards, claiming that Western states actively promote stringent green policies abroad to stifle industrial growth in developing economies, while often exempting themselves. This, she argues, is a selective form of “eco-hypocrisy” that masks power politics behind a veneer of sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Taken together, these trends amount to what Zakharova describes as “neocolon-AI-lism”—a digitized extension of historical imperial practices. She warns that AI is increasingly less about scientific achievement and more about projecting global power and shaping the perspectives of entire societies.
Echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements, Zakharova emphasizes that leadership in AI will determine the future balance of global power. She calls for Russia to play an assertive role in international digital policy-making to counter Western efforts at technological and ideological monopoly.
Zakharova concludes with a call for a just and multipolar digital order—one that resists algorithmic hegemony and curbs the emergence of new forms of digital imperialism, fostering instead a fairer technological future for all nations.
