Russia Is Filming a Cyber-Series Where AI Calls the Shots

From script to screen, neural networks are taking the director’s chair.

In a bold fusion of narrative and neural networks, Russia is producing a new cyber-series where artificial intelligence isn’t just the subject — it’s part of the creative team. The project, led by the Social Cinema Foundation, is being developed with extensive use of generative AI tools at every stage: writing, filming, and editing.

Set to span four episodes, the series will chronicle the evolution of artificial intelligence — from early programming breakthroughs to the current era of machine learning and algorithmic autonomy. “This is more than storytelling,” says project director Mikhail Komlyov. “It’s a technological experiment in how cinema itself can be redefined.”

Filming is already underway in seven Russian cities: Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Moscow, and Sochi. But the vision doesn’t stop at national borders. The show will also include scenes from BRICS countries — China, India, Brazil, and South Africa — reinforcing the global nature of AI development.

The premiere is slated for spring 2026.

Russia’s use of AI in cinema isn’t new, but this project raises the stakes. Earlier, the AI-generated film Genghis Khan won accolades at the Cannes Festival, where it was awarded Best Ultra-Feature Created with AI. The jury praised its experimental approach and technological ambition.

In a more musical turn, AI has also found a duet partner in Russian opera. A neural network recently performed alongside soprano Vera Kononova, singing a number from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera — a performance that stunned audiences and blurred the line between human expression and machine harmony.

As AI becomes a co-author of culture, Russia’s cyber-series offers a provocative glimpse of where storytelling is headed — not just told by machines, but told with them.