The Politics of AI Regulation
Examining Regulatory Approaches and the Role of Organised Interests
About
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming societies worldwide, yet we lack a global perspective on how it is being regulated. Existing research focuses largely on a few prominent jurisdictions, such as the European Union, while systematic cross-national comparisons remain scarce. Moreover, little is known about how the participation of interest organisations, such as firms or civil society groups, affects the content of AI regulations. This project addresses these gaps by: (1) creating an open-access repository of more than 1,000 AI policy documents from diverse jurisdictions; (2) analysing the complexity (how difficult regulations are to understand) and restrictiveness (how much they limit or direct action) of these texts, as both characteristics affect how regulations are interpreted, implemented, and challenged; and (3) examining how patterns of interest group participation relate to regulatory outcomes through case-based investigation. By combining large-scale text analysis with case studies, the project provides the first global comparative perspective on AI regulation.