Experts have revealed which regions have developed the closest ties to artificial intelligence. 

The leaders in the application of AI are Moscow, St. Petersburg и Tatarstan. Also in the top ten were Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Sverdlovskaya, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Rostov area и Krasnodar edge.

According to the team that conducted the study, including Tomsk State University, Beeline, and Cyberia, some other regions didn't make the top 10 but are showing rapid progress: Pskov region in the regional rankings it rose by 38 positions over the year, Smolenskaya — by 34, Lipetsk — by 33, Vladimir и Bryansk — at 32 positions.

"The regional activity index for AI development demonstrates how closely science, education, business, and the state are connected 'here and now' in building the digital future," commented the director of the Tomsk State University Institute for Big Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence. Vyacheslav Goyko"It's important to us that the ranking is based on open data and objective algorithms. Thanks to this, we can see real dynamics of change."

To compile the ranking, the activity of all Russian regions was assessed for the period from September 1, 2024, to September 1, 2025. Within the index, each region was assessed based on five criteria: contribution to scientific development, labor market demand, interest in AI, presence in the information space, and, for the first time this year, the level of development of educational programs at universities related to neural networks.