The Ministry of Digital Development, together with market players, is finalizing a draft government decree that would fundamentally change the rules for mandatory pre-installation of Russian software on smartphones imported into the country. According to the document, artificial intelligence-based voice assistants (specifically Alice AI from Yandex) can receive “system assistant” status with extended permissions: automatic background updates, sending push notifications, and most importantly, non-deletion, similar to the RuStore app store.
The move drew mixed reactions from the industry. While Yandex reported a exponential increase in the service’s audience and advocated equal conditions for all participants, the Association of Trade Companies and Manufacturers of Household Appliances and Computer Equipment (RATEK) called for the project to be suspended. The association said that forcing end-to-end access to operating systems and not deleting software is inconsistent with the security architecture of closed mobile systems, may lead to data leakage risks, and is technically difficult to implement without increasing the cost and complexity of equipment supply.