Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to fund research into artificial intelligence as competition with the West to develop such technology heats up, according to a Kremlin document published Thursday.Generative AI bots burst into the spotlight late in 2022 after U.S.-made ChatGPT demonstrated its ability to engage in human-like conversations, prompting Russia to develop its own technology.According to the document, Putin has ordered the government to "implement measures" to support AI research, including by "providing for an annual allocation from the federal budget."This research would include "optimizing machine learning algorithms" as well as developing "large language models" — such as the one developed by OpenAI's ChatGPT — the document said.