MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are no less vital now than nuclear or rocket initiatives in the USSR - they are the future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"We are well aware that this (AI technologies - TASS) is the future," he said. "In terms of its significance for the country - for any country - this is no less significant than the Soviet Union's nuclear or rocket project, which was carried out in the mid-1940s and 1950s," Putin added.

In turn, CEO of Sberbank Herman Gref said that Sber annually invests about $1 bln in the development of artificial intelligence and the return reaches $3 bln. "All efforts aimed at achieving specific goals in this area, of course, must be supported," Putin said.