Expert dismisses Russian commander's 'highly unlikely' claim about crucial military advantage over US

Claims made this week by the head of Russia’s technology development for its Defense Ministry suggesting that Moscow is "ahead" when it comes to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race that erupted amid the war in Ukraine are being shot down by one top expert.

Speaking from a Military-Technical Forum held in Moscow this week, Gen. Vasily Elistratov, head of the Kremlin’s AI development, claimed on Wednesday that Russia is "ahead of our foreign partners" despite "attempts to isolate us at the technical level."

Russia’s more than two-year-long invasion of Ukraine has driven an AI race as Kyiv, Moscow and NATO nations rush to advance their AI capabilities for wartime applications.

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But while the war has brought renewed focus to AI-integrated defense systems, particularly when it comes to the development of autonomous weapons systems, Russian President Vladimir Putin has long made developing AI a top priority.

In 2017, five years prior to the largest war Europe has seen since World War II, Putin declared, "Whoever leads in AI will rule the world," and by 2022, Russia had grown its AI market by 18 percent in that year alone, according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Moscow doubled down on its AI efforts last year and allocated some $54 million of its federal 2024 budget for AI investment – though that is just a fraction of the $1.8 billion that the U.S. has allocated for AI in its 2024 and 2025 defense budgets.

Despite Moscow's efforts, former DIA intelligence officer and author of "Putin’s Playbook," Rebekah Koffler, told Fox News Digital, "It is highly unlikely that Russia is ahead of the U.S. in AI development."

Koffler explained that from the