Regulation of artificial intelligence

Regulation of artificial intelligence is the development of public sector policies and laws for promoting and regulatingartificial intelligence (AI). The regulatory and policy landscape for AI is an emerging issue in jurisdictions worldwide, including for international organizations without direct enforcement power like the IEEE or the OECD.

Since 2016, numerous AI ethics guidelines have been published in order to maintain social control over the technology. Furthermore, organizations deploying AI have a central role to play in creating and implementing trustworthy AI, adhering to established principles, and taking accountability for mitigating risks. The European Union adopted in 2024 a common legal framework for AI with the AI Act.

AI governance is a term used in policy, industry, and academic contexts to describe how AI systems are directed and overseen. A 2025 systematic literature review defined it as encompassing the questions of who is accountable for AI systems, what elements are governed, when governance occurs within the development lifecycle, and how it is implemented through frameworks, tools, or models. Charlotte Stix noted that related terms, including "trustworthy AI", "responsible AI", and "ethical AI", have shifted in meaning over time and are often used interchangeably.