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The framework · Definitions

How AI governance is defined

A reading, in date order, of how the bodies that shape AI define or explain AI governance, what we notice along the way, and how our own definition is built.

AI governance now names UN bodies, standards, chapters of law and national guidelines, yet the documents compared here offer no agreed definition of it. This page reads, in date order, how governments, international bodies, standards bodies, scholars and practitioners define or explain it, what each one adds, and what we notice along the way.

It covers 38 documents from 2017 to 2026, chosen for standing and range. Each is labelled: an explicit definition, a framing that explains governance without defining it, or a use of the term with no definition at all. Quotations are short and verbatim; everything else is our paraphrase, linked to the passage we checked.

Skip to our definition

Definitions and explanations, 2017–2026

2017

  1. November 2017 · Explains without defining

    Urs Gasser and Virgilio A.F. Almeida

    A Layered Model for AI Governance · IEEE Internet Computing

    What it says: Interacting technical, ethical and social-legal layers, moving from standards towards law as uses mature.

    What we notice: Early on, governance is described as layers to be built up over time, from technical standards to ethics to law.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI and autonomous systems
    Towards what
    Transparency, accountability and appropriate behaviour of AI
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: near-term standards, longer-term legislation
    Level
    National and international
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    A Layered Model for AI Governance (opens in a new tab)

    Introduction and model description

    Offers a conceptual framework, not a definition: AI governance as interacting technical, ethical and social-legal layers, moving from standards and principles in the near term towards legislation as applications mature.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · gasser-almeida-layers

2018

  1. August 2018 · Defines the term

    Allan Dafoe

    AI Governance: A Research Agenda · Centre for the Governance of AI, Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford

    “the field of AI governance studies how humanity can best navigate the transition to advanced AI systems”

    In short: A field studying how humanity can navigate the transition to advanced AI, focused on institutions rather than technical safety.

    What we notice: The first definition we found treats AI governance as a field of study, centred on institutions rather than the technology itself.

    Note: A field-scoping definition rather than a formal one.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The institutions and contexts in which (advanced) AI is built and used
    Towards what
    Beneficial development and use of advanced AI
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: speed of capability arrival and acting while stakes are relatively low
    Level
    Global
    Inspect evidence · 2 passages

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    AI Governance: A Research Agenda (opens in a new tab)

    p. 5 (definition); p. 6 (contrast with AI safety); abstract, p. 1

    Defines AI governance as a field that studies how humanity can best navigate the transition to advanced AI. It contrasts governance, which focuses on the institutions and contexts in which AI is built and used, with technical AI safety.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · dafoe-govai-definition

    AI Governance: A Research Agenda (opens in a new tab)

    pp. 10 and 13

    Stresses timing: how fast and suddenly capabilities may arrive, forecasting key moments, and embedding principles early, while the stakes are still relatively low.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · dafoe-govai-timing

2019

  1. April 2019 · Explains without defining

    IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems

    Ethically Aligned Design, First Edition

    “Governance frameworks, including standards and regulatory bodies, should be established to oversee processes which ensure that the use of A/IS does not infringe upon human rights, freedoms, dignity, and privacy, and which ensure traceability.”

    In short: Standards bodies and regulators should oversee how autonomous and intelligent systems are used, so rights are respected and decisions can be traced.

    What we notice: Engineers’ own standards body frames governance as oversight anchored in human rights, not only technical quality.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    Processes for using autonomous and intelligent systems
    Towards what
    Human rights, freedoms, dignity and privacy; traceability
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed in this recommendation
    Level
    Standards bodies and regulators
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Ethically Aligned Design, First Edition (opens in a new tab)

    General Principles, Principle 1 (Human Rights), recommendations, p. 20

    Recommends governance frameworks, including standards and regulatory bodies, to oversee processes that keep the use of autonomous and intelligent systems from infringing human rights, freedoms, dignity and privacy, and that ensure traceability.

    Scope note: The PDF shows no year; IEEE’s own timeline dates the First Edition to April 2019.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · ieee-governance-frameworks

  2. May 2019 · Explains without defining

    Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

    OECD AI Principles

    What it says: Governments should build agile, outcome-based and interoperable governance for trustworthy AI and keep it under review.

    What we notice: The most widely adopted principles never define governance; they describe the kind of policy environment it needs: agile, outcome-based, revisable.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI systems across the lifecycle, through national policy and regulation
    Towards what
    Trustworthy AI, innovation and competition
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: agile; review and adapt frameworks
    Level
    National, with co-operation across jurisdictions
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    OECD AI Principles (opens in a new tab)

    Recommendation 2.3(a)–(b), OECD/LEGAL/0449

    Asks governments to promote an agile policy environment, use outcome-based approaches that leave flexibility in meeting governance objectives, co-operate for interoperable governance, and review and adapt their frameworks. The Recommendation defines AI system and AI actors but not AI governance.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · oecd-agile-adapt

2020

  1. January 2020 · Explains without defining

    Personal Data Protection Commission and Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore

    Model Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework, Second Edition

    “Internal governance structures and measures help to ensure robust oversight over an organisation’s use of AI.”

    In short: Governance as the internal structures that let an organisation oversee its own use of AI.

    What we notice: Governance enters organisations as internal structure: who oversees the organisation’s own use of AI.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    An organisation’s use of AI
    Towards what
    Robust oversight and stakeholder confidence
    Timing and adaptation
    A living, voluntary framework revised from its 2019 first edition
    Level
    Organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Model Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework, Second Edition (opens in a new tab)

    Section 3.5, “Internal Governance Structures and Measures”, p. 21

    Says internal governance structures and measures help ensure robust oversight of an organisation’s use of AI. The definitions section defines AI and the parties involved, but not AI governance.

    Scope note: Voluntary guidance for organisations. Classing high-income Singapore with the Global North is an editorial judgement.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · singapore-2020-internal-governance

  2. May 2020 · Defines the term

    Ó hÉigeartaigh, Whittlestone, Liu, et al.

    Overcoming Barriers to Cross-cultural Cooperation in AI Ethics and Governance · Philosophy & Technology (Springer)

    “the more practical challenge of ensuring the ethical use of AI in society”

    In short: The practical work of making the use of AI in society ethical, as distinct from AI ethics.

    What we notice: Governance is separated from ethics: ethics asks what is right, governance asks how to make it happen in society.

    Note: A definitional gloss inside a longer sentence, which continues by naming regulation, governance frameworks and softer approaches; it is arguable whether it is a formal definition.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The use of AI in society
    Towards what
    Ethical use
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed
    Level
    Societal and cross-cultural
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Overcoming Barriers to Cross-cultural Cooperation in AI Ethics and Governance (opens in a new tab)

    Section 1, Introduction

    Distinguishes AI ethics from AI governance, which it describes as the more practical challenge of ensuring the ethical use of AI in society.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · oheigeartaigh-definition

2021

  1. 2021 · Defines the term

    Hua and Belfield

    AI & Antitrust: Reconciling Tensions Between Competition Law and Cooperative AI Development · Yale Journal of Law & Technology

    “The study or practice of local and global governance systems—including norms, policies, laws, processes, and institutions—that govern or should govern AI research, development, deployment, and use.”

    In short: The study or practice of the norms, laws and institutions that do or should govern AI across its lifecycle.

    What we notice: A wording later reused by others: governance as both study and practice, covering what does and what should govern AI.

    Note: A widely reused scholarly definition; Sastry et al. (2024) adopt it.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI research, development, deployment and use
    Towards what
    Left open: covers what does and what should govern AI
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed
    Level
    Local and global
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    AI & Antitrust: Reconciling Tensions Between Competition Law and Cooperative AI Development (opens in a new tab)

    p. 418, footnote 3

    Defines AI governance as the study or practice of local and global governance systems (norms, policies, laws, processes and institutions) that govern, or should govern, AI research, development, deployment and use.

    Scope note: Footnote 3 attributes its definition to Ó hÉigeartaigh et al. (2020), whose published text defines AI governance differently. We treat this article as the source of the wording, which Sastry et al. (2024) and Maas (2023) reuse.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · hua-belfield-definition

  2. 2021 · Defines the term

    Smart Africa Secretariat

    “AI for Africa” Blueprint

    “the practice of establishing and implementing policies, procedures and standards for the proper development, use and management of the infosphere”

    In short: Setting and applying policies, procedures and standards for the proper development and use of the digital sphere, with flexibility as a core pillar.

    What we notice: African guidance borrows a general definition of digital governance and stresses flexibility over early regulation.

    Note: Defines digital governance, borrowing Floridi (2018), and applies it to AI.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The infosphere, including AI systems
    Towards what
    Proper development, use and management
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: flexibility and soft law first
    Level
    Continental guidance for national governments
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    “AI for Africa” Blueprint (opens in a new tab)

    Executive summary, p. 15; section 4.1, p. 41; p. 42

    Adopts Floridi’s definition of digital governance (establishing and implementing policies, procedures and standards for the proper development, use and management of the infosphere). Says flexibility should be a core pillar of the African AI strategy, particularly for governance, and that regulation should follow only where soft law cannot address a concern.

    Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by Germany’s development ministry (BMZ), a project partner. Its definition of digital governance is borrowed from Floridi (2018).

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · smart-africa-governance

  3. February 2021 · Explains without defining

    African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

    Resolution ACHPR/Res. 473 (EXT.OS/XXXI) 2021 on human and peoples’ rights and artificial intelligence, robotics and other new and emerging technologies

    What it says: A comprehensive legal and ethical framework grounded in human rights and African values, with meaningful human control.

    What we notice: A regional human-rights body frames governance around African norms and meaningful human control.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI, robotics and emerging technologies
    Towards what
    Human and peoples’ rights
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed
    Level
    National and regional
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Resolution ACHPR/Res. 473 (EXT.OS/XXXI) 2021 on human and peoples’ rights and artificial intelligence, robotics and other new and emerging technologies (opens in a new tab)

    Operative paragraphs

    Calls on states to work towards a comprehensive legal and ethical governance framework for AI and emerging technologies, grounded in human rights and African norms and values, with meaningful human control.

    Scope note: Read from the AfricanLII copy. A resolution of a regional human-rights body, not binding law.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · achpr-473-framework

  4. November 2021 · Explains without defining

    UNESCO

    Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

    What it says: Inclusive, multi-stakeholder governance mechanisms that anticipate impacts and provide monitoring, enforcement and redress.

    What we notice: UNESCO’s member states ask for governance that anticipates, monitors impact and offers redress.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI systems across the life cycle and their effects on society and human rights
    Towards what
    Ethics and human rights
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: anticipation and monitoring of impact
    Level
    National, with international co-operation
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (opens in a new tab)

    Policy Area 2, “Ethical governance and stewardship”, para. 54

    Asks Member States to make AI governance mechanisms inclusive, transparent, multidisciplinary, multilateral and multi-stakeholder, and says governance should include anticipation, protection, monitoring of impact, enforcement and redress.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · unesco-governance-mechanisms

2022

  1. 2022 · Defines the term

    Mäntymäki, Minkkinen, Birkstedt, et al.

    Defining organizational AI governance · AI and Ethics (Springer)

    “AI governance is a system of rules, practices, processes, and technological tools that are employed to ensure an organization’s use of AI technologies aligns with the organization’s strategies, objectives, and values…”

    In short: Rules, practices, processes and tools that keep an organisation’s AI use in line with its strategy, the law and its ethics principles.

    What we notice: Management scholars give a formal definition, and it is organisational: alignment with strategy, law and ethics.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    An organisation’s use of AI
    Towards what
    Alignment with strategy, law and ethical principles
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed in the definition
    Level
    Organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

    Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

    Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

    Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

  2. 2022 · Defines the term

    Schneider, Abraham, Meske and vom Brocke

    Artificial Intelligence Governance For Businesses · Information Systems Management (Taylor & Francis)

    “AI governance for business is the structure of rules, practices, and processes used to ensure that the organization’s AI technology sustains and extends the organization’s strategies and objectives.”

    In short: The structure of rules, practices and processes that keeps a company’s AI serving its strategy.

    What we notice: Business definitions make the purpose plain: AI governance serves the organisation’s strategy.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The organisation’s AI technology
    Towards what
    Sustaining and extending business strategy and objectives
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed
    Level
    Organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Artificial Intelligence Governance For Businesses (opens in a new tab)

    Section “AI governance definition”, p. 4

    Defines AI governance for business as the structure of rules, practices and processes that ensures an organisation’s AI technology sustains and extends its strategies and objectives.

    Scope note: Read from the authors’ arXiv copy, which shows the journal DOI and a 2022 copyright notice.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · schneider-definition

  3. April 2022 · Explains without defining

    ISO and IEC

    ISO/IEC 38507:2022 Information technology — Governance of IT — Governance implications of the use of artificial intelligence by organizations

    What it says: The governing body directs and oversees the organisation’s use of AI so it is effective, efficient and acceptable.

    What we notice: Standards place accountability with the board and govern the use of AI rather than the technology.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The organisation’s current and future use of AI
    Towards what
    Effective, efficient and acceptable use
    Timing and adaptation
    Ongoing responsibility for current and future uses
    Level
    Organisational board
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    ISO/IEC 38507:2022 Information technology — Governance of IT — Governance implications of the use of artificial intelligence by organizations (opens in a new tab)

    Abstract

    Guides an organisation’s governing body to enable and govern the organisation’s current and future use of AI so that it is effective, efficient and acceptable.

    Scope note: The standard is paid; this record relies on the public abstract and a publisher preview of its opening clauses.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · iso-38507-scope

2023

  1. January 2023 · Explains without defining

    National Institute of Standards and Technology

    Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0)

    What it says: Governance is the cross-cutting organisational function that builds a risk-management culture and ties AI work to organisational policy.

    What we notice: Governance becomes a function inside risk management, continual across a system’s life.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    Organisations and the risks their AI systems pose
    Towards what
    Effective AI risk management
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: continual over the system’s lifespan
    Level
    Organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) (opens in a new tab)

    Section 5.1, GOVERN function; figure 5

    Describes GOVERN as a cross-cutting function that builds a culture of risk management in organisations and aligns AI risk management with organisational principles, policies and priorities. Attention to governance is continual over an AI system’s lifespan.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · nist-govern-function

  2. March 2023 · Explains without defining

    Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, United Kingdom

    A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation (CP 815)

    What it says: Governance is one regulatory principle, oversight and accountability, within an agile framework that regulates the use of AI, not the technology.

    What we notice: A national government treats governance as one principle among five and regulates use, not technology.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The supply and use of AI systems
    Towards what
    Growth and prosperity alongside trust
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: agile and iterative
    Level
    National, through sector regulators
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation (CP 815) (opens in a new tab)

    Paragraph 52, “Accountability and governance” principle; section 3.2 on regulating use, not technology

    Treats governance as one regulatory principle: measures for effective oversight of the supply and use of AI, with clear accountability across the lifecycle. The framework regulates the use of AI rather than the technology and is meant to be agile and iterative.

    Scope note: A policy white paper, not law. Later UK policy has moved on; it is included for its framing of governance.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · uk-accountability-governance

  3. October 2023 · Explains without defining

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China

    Global AI Governance Initiative

    What it says: A common task for all countries that balances development and security, with agile, tiered management.

    What we notice: Governance is framed as a shared task for all countries, balancing development and security.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI development and use
    Towards what
    Development and security for humanity’s future
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: agile governance
    Level
    Global
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Global AI Governance Initiative (opens in a new tab)

    Paragraphs 1 and 9

    Calls AI governance a common task for all countries that bears on humanity’s future, giving equal weight to development and security, and calls for agile governance with tiered, category-based management.

    Scope note: A diplomatic initiative, not law. Classing China as Global South follows its UN grouping and is itself debated.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · china-gaigi-framing

  4. December 2023 · Explains without defining

    ISO and IEC (JTC 1/SC 42)

    ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Information technology — Artificial intelligence — Management system

    “Implementing this standard means putting in place policies and procedures for the sound governance of an organization in relation to AI, using the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology.”

    In short: Governance as an organisation’s management system for AI: policies, objectives and processes, improved in a repeating cycle.

    What we notice: A certifiable management system turns governance into a repeating cycle of plan, do, check and act.

    Note: Quoted from ISO’s public page, not the paid standard.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The organisation’s development, provision or use of AI
    Towards what
    Responsible development, provision and use of AI
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: Plan-Do-Check-Act and continual improvement
    Level
    Organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Information technology — Artificial intelligence — Management system (opens in a new tab)

    Public page, FAQ

    Says implementing the standard means putting in place policies and procedures for the sound governance of an organisation in relation to AI, using the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, and continually improving an AI management system.

    Scope note: The standard itself is paid; this record relies on the publisher’s public description.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · iso-42001-sound-governance

2024

  1. 2024 · Defines the term

    World Bank

    Global Trends in AI Governance: Evolving Country Approaches

    “In this report, the term ‘governance’ refers to the broader framework of laws, rules, practices, and processes used to ensure AI technologies are developed and used responsibly.”

    In short: The laws, rules, practices and processes that ensure AI is developed and used responsibly.

    What we notice: A development lender defines governance broadly, across laws, rules and practices.

    Note: Defines “governance” for the purposes of one report.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The development and use of AI technologies
    Towards what
    Responsible development and use
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: governance as an iterative, agile process
    Level
    National, compared across countries
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Global Trends in AI Governance: Evolving Country Approaches (opens in a new tab)

    Section 1.1, footnote 7

    For the report’s purposes, governance means the broader framework of laws, rules, practices and processes used to ensure AI is developed and used responsibly. Elsewhere it describes governance as an iterative, agile process.

    Scope note: Read from the World Bank’s plain-text rendering of the report; page markers are approximate.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · world-bank-governance-definition

  2. 2024 · Explains without defining

    Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

    ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics

    What it says: Internal structures and practices built into AI by design and reviewed periodically.

    What we notice: Regional guidance treats governance as internal structure built into AI by design and reviewed periodically.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    Organisations’ design, development and deployment of AI
    Towards what
    Responsible use of AI by organisations and governments
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: periodic review; a living document
    Level
    Regional guidance with an organisational focus
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics (opens in a new tab)

    Sections C.1 and C.3

    Treats AI governance as organisational structures and practices: internal governance structures should be reviewed periodically as AI evolves, and governance should be built into AI systems by design.

    Scope note: Voluntary regional guidance aimed mainly at organisations.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · asean-governance-framing

  3. March 2024 · Uses the term, no definition

    Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

    OECD Input to the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI

    What it says: The OECD suggested the UN advisory body state what “AI governance” refers to. The final report did not define it.

    What we notice: A sign of the gap: one major body asked another to say what AI governance means.

    Note: Included because it shows the gap this page documents.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    Not applicable
    Towards what
    Precision about scope
    Timing and adaptation
    Not applicable
    Level
    International
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    OECD Input to the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI (opens in a new tab)

    p. 2

    Suggests the UN advisory body’s report could make its scope more precise by, for example, stating what “AI”, “AI systems” and “AI governance” refer to in the report.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · oecd-input-asks-definition

  4. April 2024 · Defines the term

    Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología, Conocimiento e Innovación, Chile

    Política Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial (Actualización 2024)

    “Proceso a través del cual diversos actores de una comunidad -incluidos el gobierno, el sector privado, la ciudadanía y la academia- interactúan y toman decisiones colectivas para dirigir y regular espacios y temáticas comunes para lograr un desarrollo sostenible.”

    In short: Our translation: a process in which government, business, citizens and academia take collective decisions to steer and regulate shared issues towards sustainable development.

    What we notice: A national policy defines governance as a collective, multi-actor process towards sustainable development.

    Note: Defines governance in general, not AI governance. The quotation is the original Spanish.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    Shared spaces and issues; applied to AI in the policy’s governance and ethics axis
    Towards what
    Sustainable development
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed in the definition
    Level
    National, with regional and global cooperation
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Política Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial (Actualización 2024) (opens in a new tab)

    Glosario, “Gobernanza”, p. 17

    Our translation: governance is a process through which a community’s actors, including government, the private sector, citizens and academia, interact and take collective decisions to steer and regulate shared spaces and issues towards sustainable development.

    Scope note: Adopted by decree; published in the Diario Oficial. Quotes are in Spanish; the passage summary is a translation.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · chile-gobernanza-definition

  5. May 2024 · Uses the term, no definition

    Colorado General Assembly

    SB24-205 Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence (enrolled act)

    What it says: Requires deployers of high-risk AI to run a risk management policy and program “to govern” deployment, without defining governance.

    What we notice: Law starts to require governance programmes without defining governance.

    Note: Points to the NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 as benchmarks.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    A deployer’s deployment of high-risk AI systems
    Towards what
    Preventing algorithmic discrimination
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: an iterative program reviewed over the system’s life cycle
    Level
    Organisational duty under state law
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    SB24-205 Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence (enrolled act) (opens in a new tab)

    Section 6-1-1703(2)(a), pp. 10–11

    Requires deployers of high-risk AI to implement a risk management policy and program, specifying principles, processes and personnel, to govern deployment. The program must be iterative and regularly reviewed over the system’s life cycle, and names the NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 as benchmarks. The act does not define governance.

    Scope note: Signed 17 May 2024 according to the LegiScan status page. The enrolled text gives an effective date of 1 February 2026; later amendments to that date were not checked.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · colorado-risk-program

  6. June 2024 · Defines the term

    IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals)

    AI Governance in Practice Report 2024

    “It encompasses the growing combination of principles, laws, policies, processes, standards, frameworks, industry best practices and other tools incorporated across the design, development, deployment and use of AI.”

    In short: A growing toolkit of principles, laws, standards and practices applied across the AI lifecycle.

    What we notice: Practitioners describe governance as a growing toolkit applied across the AI lifecycle.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI across design, development, deployment and use
    Towards what
    Responsible innovation
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed (our reading: the lifecycle framing implies ongoing application)
    Level
    Mainly organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    AI Governance in Practice Report 2024 (opens in a new tab)

    Introduction

    Describes the practice of AI governance as a growing combination of principles, laws, policies, processes, standards, frameworks, best practices and other tools applied across the design, development, deployment and use of AI; a key goal of an AI governance programme is responsible innovation.

    Scope note: A professional association report. This is not the IAPP glossary “Key terms for AI governance”, which could not be read.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · iapp-definition

  7. July 2024 · Explains without defining

    African Union

    Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy

    What it says: Governance is the means to make AI inclusive, serve African agendas and avoid harm, across several tiers.

    What we notice: A continental strategy ties governance to inclusion, African agendas and several tiers of government.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The development and use of AI across its lifecycle
    Towards what
    Inclusion, African agendas and avoiding harm
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: agile, forward-looking, adaptable regulation
    Level
    Continental, regional and national
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy (opens in a new tab)

    Section 2.4.1, “AI Governance and Regulation”, pp. 33–36

    Calls effective governance a key mechanism for making the use and development of AI inclusive of diverse populations, serving African agendas and avoiding harm, through a multi-tiered approach and agile, forward-looking, adaptable regulation.

    Scope note: Global South regional body. Adopted by the AU Executive Council at its session of 18–19 July 2024 and posted by the AU on 9 August 2024; a strategy, not binding law.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · au-effective-governance

  8. July 2024 · Uses the term, no definition

    European Union

    Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — Artificial Intelligence Act

    What it says: Uses “governance” as the name of an institutional chapter (the AI Office, the AI Board, national authorities) without defining it.

    What we notice: The EU’s AI law uses governance as the name for its enforcing institutions, not as a concept.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI systems and general-purpose AI models on the EU market
    Towards what
    Trustworthy, human-centric AI and protection of health, safety and fundamental rights
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed in the governance provisions
    Level
    EU and national institutions
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — Artificial Intelligence Act (opens in a new tab)

    Article 3(47); Chapter VII, “Governance”; Article 1(1)

    Does not define governance. The term appears in the definition of the AI Office, and Chapter VII, titled “Governance”, sets up Union-level bodies and national competent authorities. Read via a third-party consolidation of the official text.

    Scope note: Original 2024 enactment, not a consolidated current-law or applicability check. Records discuss its text, not whether a provision applies to a particular situation today.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · eu-ai-act-governance-chapter

  9. September 2024 · Explains without defining

    United Nations High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence

    Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report

    What it says: Governance must manage risks and spread benefits so no one is left behind, through universal, networked, adaptive multi-stakeholder collaboration.

    What we notice: The UN’s experts make benefit-sharing central and say governance should shape incentives, though they do not define the term.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI globally, its risks and opportunities, and the international institutions around it
    Towards what
    Address risks and leave no one behind
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: agile and adaptive
    Level
    Global
    Inspect evidence · 2 passages

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

    Executive summary, para. vi; para. 47 (guiding principle 4)

    Says AI governance is needed both to address risks and to harness AI’s potential in ways that leave no one behind, and that it must be universal, networked and rooted in adaptive multi-stakeholder collaboration. The report does not define the term.

    Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-governance-crucial

    Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

    Para. 16; para. 35

    Says any governance framework should shape incentives globally towards larger and more inclusive objectives, and calls for agile governance so that accountability keeps pace with AI.

    Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-shape-incentives

  10. September 2024 · Uses the term, no definition

    Council of Europe

    Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS No. 225)

    What it says: Regulates activities across the AI lifecycle without using or defining the word governance.

    What we notice: A binding international AI treaty avoids the word governance entirely.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    Activities within the lifecycle of AI systems
    Towards what
    Human rights, democracy and the rule of law
    Timing and adaptation
    Partly: iterative risk management across the lifecycle and testing before first use (Article 16)
    Level
    International treaty implemented by states
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS No. 225) (opens in a new tab)

    Preamble; Articles 1, 2 and 16

    Aims to ensure activities within the lifecycle of AI systems are fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law. It defines only “artificial intelligence system”; the word governance does not appear in the text we read. Article 16 requires risk and impact management applied iteratively across the lifecycle, including testing before first use.

    Scope note: The Council of Europe overview page was reviewed, not the treaty text itself. The Convention binds only parties for which it has entered into force, and is largely framed as obligations on states to adopt measures. Signature and ratification status changes; verify before relying on it. The treaty text itself (CETS 225) was opened on 19 October 2026 for the definitions comparison.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · coe-no-governance-term

  11. October 2024 · Defines the term

    IBM

    What is AI governance? (IBM Think explainer)

    “Artificial intelligence (AI) governance refers to the processes, standards and guardrails that help ensure that AI systems are safe and ethical.”

    In short: Processes, standards and guardrails that keep AI systems safe and ethical over time.

    What we notice: A vendor explainer defines governance as guardrails for safe, ethical AI over time.

    Note: A vendor explainer; see the source note.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI systems
    Towards what
    Safe and ethical AI
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: sustaining standards over time, not one-time compliance
    Level
    Organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    What is AI governance? (IBM Think explainer) (opens in a new tab)

    Opening paragraphs

    Defines AI governance as the processes, standards and guardrails that help keep AI systems safe and ethical, and says it is about sustaining ethical standards over time, not one-time compliance.

    Scope note: A vendor explainer, included because it is widely read, not for its standing. IBM sells AI governance products.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · ibm-definition

  12. October 2024 · Explains without defining

    Second Ministerial and High Authorities Summit on the Ethics of AI in Latin America and the Caribbean

    Declaración de Montevideo

    What it says: Our translation: governance suited to the region’s socioeconomic and cultural contexts, promoting inclusion and equitable access while respecting national policy choices.

    What we notice: Latin American ministers ask that governance fit regional contexts and respect each country’s choices.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI technologies across the life cycle
    Towards what
    Rights, inclusion and equity
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed in the declaration
    Level
    National sovereignty within regional and global governance
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Declaración de Montevideo (opens in a new tab)

    Preamble

    Our translation: affirms that AI governance must take account of the region’s particular socioeconomic and cultural contexts, address risks and impacts across the life cycle, and promote digital inclusion and equitable access, while respecting each country’s power to set its own policy.

    Scope note: A non-binding ministerial declaration, in Spanish; passage summaries are our translation.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · montevideo-governance

  13. December 2024 · Defines the term

    Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan

    AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation)

    “The design and operation of technological, organizational, and social systems by stakeholders for the purpose of managing risks posed by the use of AI at levels acceptable to stakeholders and maximizing their positive impact (benefit).”

    In short: Stakeholders design and run technical, organisational and social systems that keep AI risks acceptable to them while maximising benefit.

    What we notice: The first government definition we found names stakeholders, social systems, acceptable risk and benefit, with an agile cycle.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The risks and benefits of using AI, through technological, organisational and social systems
    Towards what
    Risk at levels stakeholders accept; maximum benefit
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: an agile, continuous governance cycle
    Level
    Organisational guidance set within a society-wide idea of agile governance
    Inspect evidence · 2 passages

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

    Part 1, Definitions (related terms), “AI governance”

    Defines AI governance as stakeholders designing and operating technological, organisational and social systems to keep the risks of using AI at levels stakeholders find acceptable while maximising AI’s benefits.

    Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-definition

    AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

    Part 2 E, “Building AI governance”

    Describes agile governance: multiple stakeholders continuously run a cycle of risk analysis, goal setting, system design, operation and evaluation across governance systems in companies, regulation, infrastructure, markets and social codes.

    Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-agile

  14. December 2024 · Explains without defining

    Senado Federal do Brasil

    Projeto de Lei nº 2338/2023 (Brazil artificial intelligence bill)

    What it says: Our translation: general rules for the responsible governance of AI systems, run through a coordinated national regulatory system.

    What we notice: A bill frames governance as rules plus a coordinated system of regulators, aimed at rights and responsible innovation.

    Note: A pending bill, not law.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI systems across their life cycle
    Towards what
    Fundamental rights, responsible innovation and competitiveness
    Timing and adaptation
    Partly: sandboxes and codes of practice
    Level
    National, through a competent authority and sectoral regulators
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Projeto de Lei nº 2338/2023 (Brazil artificial intelligence bill) (opens in a new tab)

    Art. 1; Art. 4, X (bill text sent to the Chamber of Deputies)

    Our translation: sets general national rules for the responsible governance of AI systems in Brazil to protect fundamental rights and stimulate responsible innovation and competitiveness. It defines the national AI regulation and governance system, but not governance itself.

    Scope note: Pending bill, not law. Passed the Senate on 10 December 2024; awaiting a committee report in the Chamber of Deputies as of 9 October 2026. Earlier passages rely on the Senate’s official news agency; the definitions comparison cites Articles 1 and 4 of the text received by the Chamber of Deputies.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · brazil-responsible-governance

2025

  1. January 2025 · Uses the term, no definition

    National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (translation by the Korea Legislation Research Institute)

    Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Creation of a Foundation for Trust (English translation)

    What it says: A framework law for AI development and trust that does not use the term governance.

    What we notice: A comprehensive national AI law that does not use the word governance.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI development and trust
    Towards what
    Rights, interests and dignity of citizens; quality of life and national competitiveness
    Timing and adaptation
    Partly: advance review and impact assessment for high-impact AI (Articles 33 and 35) and three-yearly master plans (Article 6)
    Level
    National law
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Creation of a Foundation for Trust (English translation) (opens in a new tab)

    Articles 1, 2, 6, 33 and 35

    States its purpose as the sound development of AI and the creation of a foundation of trust. Article 2 defines twelve terms, none of them governance, and the translated text does not use the word. It requires advance review of whether AI is high-impact and efforts to assess impacts on fundamental rights in advance, and a master plan every three years.

    Scope note: An unofficial English translation.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · korea-act-no-governance

  2. March 2025 · Defines the term

    Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, Kenya

    Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030

    “A framework of policies, guidelines, and practices designed to ensure the responsible, ethical, and transparent development and deployment of AI systems.”

    In short: A framework of policies, guidelines and practices, with oversight, risk management and accountability, for responsible AI.

    What we notice: An African national strategy writes its own definition: a framework for responsible, ethical, transparent AI.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    The development and deployment of AI systems
    Towards what
    Responsible, ethical and transparent AI
    Timing and adaptation
    Calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework
    Level
    National
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

    Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

    Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

    Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

  3. August 2025 · Uses the term, no definition

    United Nations General Assembly

    Resolution 79/325: Terms of reference and modalities for the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance

    “Establishes, within the United Nations, the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, involving Governments and all relevant stakeholders, as a platform to discuss international cooperation…”

    In short: Creates a UN forum named for AI governance, aimed at the Sustainable Development Goals and closing digital divides, without defining the term.

    What we notice: The UN creates a standing dialogue named after AI governance, still without defining it.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    International approaches to AI governance in the non-military domain
    Towards what
    Sustainable development, closing digital divides, interoperable approaches
    Timing and adaptation
    Not addressed
    Level
    International
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Resolution 79/325: Terms of reference and modalities for the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance (opens in a new tab)

    Operative paragraph 4

    Establishes the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, with governments and all relevant stakeholders, as a platform to discuss international cooperation and share practice, so that AI can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and to closing digital divides. The resolution uses the term without defining it.

    Scope note: Read from the copy hosted by the Office of the President of the General Assembly. Covers the non-military domain only.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · unga-global-dialogue

  4. November 2025 · Explains without defining

    Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India

    India AI Governance Guidelines: Enabling Safe and Trusted AI Innovation

    What it says: A balanced, agile, pro-innovation approach that governs AI applications through sectoral regulators.

    What we notice: A large economy chooses agile, pro-innovation governance through existing sector regulators.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI applications
    Towards what
    Innovation and adoption with protection from harm
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: future-looking, flexible, periodically reviewed
    Level
    National, sectoral and organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    India AI Governance Guidelines: Enabling Safe and Trusted AI Innovation (opens in a new tab)

    Overview, p. 9

    Prefers a balanced, agile, flexible and pro-innovation approach to AI governance that encourages adoption while protecting people and society from harm, governing AI applications through sectoral regulators.

    Scope note: Non-binding guidelines; they state that a separate AI law is not needed at present.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · india-governance-approach

  5. December 2025 · Defines the term

    Ojanen, Anttila, Thelitz and Björk

    Governing rapid technological change: Policy Delphi on the future of European AI governance · arXiv

    “We define AI governance as the overall framework of rules and standards for AI, which also includes practices of private AI companies…”

    In short: The whole framework of rules and standards for AI, including company practice; public AI policy is one part of it.

    What we notice: Recent scholarship widens governance to private companies’ practices and draws on anticipatory governance.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    AI
    Towards what
    Not stated in the definition
    Timing and adaptation
    Not in the definition itself; the paper separately adopts Guston’s anticipatory governance (acting “while effective intervention is still possible”)
    Level
    Multi-actor; European focus
    Inspect evidence · 2 passages

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Governing rapid technological change: Policy Delphi on the future of European AI governance (opens in a new tab)

    Section 2, footnote 1

    Defines AI governance as the overall framework of rules and standards for AI, including private companies’ practices; AI policy is the subset made by public authorities.

    Scope note: A preprint, not peer reviewed. The anticipatory-governance definition it uses is quoted from Guston (2014).

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · ojanen-definition

    Governing rapid technological change: Policy Delphi on the future of European AI governance (opens in a new tab)

    Section 2

    Uses Guston’s definition of anticipatory governance: the institutional capacity to manage emerging technologies and their societal impacts while effective intervention is still possible.

    Scope note: A preprint, not peer reviewed. The anticipatory-governance definition it uses is quoted from Guston (2014).

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · ojanen-anticipatory

2026

  1. 2026 · Explains without defining

    ECLAC (CEPAL) and CENIA

    Índice Latinoamericano de Inteligencia Artificial (ILIA) 2025: fichas de país y aspectos metodológicos

    What it says: Our translation: governance as the state’s effective capacity to steer AI deployment towards development goals.

    What we notice: A regional index measures governance as the state’s capacity to steer AI towards development.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    National AI deployment
    Towards what
    Alignment with development objectives
    Timing and adaptation
    Monitoring mechanisms
    Level
    National, compared across Latin America
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Índice Latinoamericano de Inteligencia Artificial (ILIA) 2025: fichas de país y aspectos metodológicos (opens in a new tab)

    Methodology, governance dimension, pp. 21–22

    Our translation: the index’s governance dimension tries to approximate the state’s effective capacity to steer the deployment of AI and align it with development objectives, measured through strategy, institutions, budgets, targets and monitoring.

    Scope note: In Spanish; passage summaries are our translation. Read from the index’s own site.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · cepal-ilia-governance

  2. January 2026 · Explains without defining

    Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore

    Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI, Version 1.0

    “emphasising adaptive governance, so that the organisation is set up to quickly understand new developments and update its approach as the technology evolves.”

    In short: For AI agents, governance means clear responsibilities across the organisation and its vendors, and governance that adapts as the technology changes.

    What we notice: With AI agents, governance turns to allocating responsibility and adapting quickly.

    What it governs, towards what, when, at what level
    What is governed
    An organisation’s deployment of agentic AI, including its vendors
    Towards what
    Trusted AI with meaningful human control and oversight
    Timing and adaptation
    Yes: adaptive governance; a living document
    Level
    Organisational
    Inspect evidence · 1 passage

    Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

    Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI, Version 1.0 (opens in a new tab)

    Executive summary, pp. 1–2

    Calls for clearly defining the responsibilities of stakeholders inside the organisation and with vendors, and for adaptive governance so the organisation can update its approach as agentic AI evolves. Calls itself a living document.

    Scope note: The cover gives both 19 and 22 January 2026. IMDA announced an updated version in May 2026, which we did not read. Voluntary guidance.

    Passage checked 2026-10-19 · singapore-agentic-adaptive

What the definitions tell us

Our reading of the documents above. Each insight is labelled with how confident we are and links to the passages it relies on.

01The term spread faster than any definition of it

synthesisConfidence: highContestability: low

Of the 29 governmental, intergovernmental and standards documents compared here, only two, Japan’s AI Guidelines for Business and Kenya’s AI strategy, define AI governance in a sentence. Most use the term without defining it, and some laws, including the Council of Europe Convention and Korea’s framework act, do not use it at all.

Our reading: Counted across the documents on this page, which were chosen for standing and range, not as a census.

Inspect evidence · 7 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 1, Definitions (related terms), “AI governance”

Defines AI governance as stakeholders designing and operating technological, organisational and social systems to keep the risks of using AI at levels stakeholders find acceptable while maximising AI’s benefits.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-definition

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Creation of a Foundation for Trust (English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Articles 1, 2, 6, 33 and 35

States its purpose as the sound development of AI and the creation of a foundation of trust. Article 2 defines twelve terms, none of them governance, and the translated text does not use the word. It requires advance review of whether AI is high-impact and efforts to assess impacts on fundamental rights in advance, and a master plan every three years.

Scope note: An unofficial English translation.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · korea-act-no-governance

OECD AI Principles (opens in a new tab)

Recommendation 2.3(a)–(b), OECD/LEGAL/0449

Asks governments to promote an agile policy environment, use outcome-based approaches that leave flexibility in meeting governance objectives, co-operate for interoperable governance, and review and adapt their frameworks. The Recommendation defines AI system and AI actors but not AI governance.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · oecd-agile-adapt

Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

Executive summary, para. vi; para. 47 (guiding principle 4)

Says AI governance is needed both to address risks and to harness AI’s potential in ways that leave no one behind, and that it must be universal, networked and rooted in adaptive multi-stakeholder collaboration. The report does not define the term.

Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-governance-crucial

Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS No. 225) (opens in a new tab)

Preamble; Articles 1, 2 and 16

Aims to ensure activities within the lifecycle of AI systems are fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law. It defines only “artificial intelligence system”; the word governance does not appear in the text we read. Article 16 requires risk and impact management applied iteratively across the lifecycle, including testing before first use.

Scope note: The Council of Europe overview page was reviewed, not the treaty text itself. The Convention binds only parties for which it has entered into force, and is largely framed as obligations on states to adopt measures. Signature and ratification status changes; verify before relying on it. The treaty text itself (CETS 225) was opened on 19 October 2026 for the definitions comparison.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · coe-no-governance-term

Resolution 79/325: Terms of reference and modalities for the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance (opens in a new tab)

Operative paragraph 4

Establishes the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, with governments and all relevant stakeholders, as a platform to discuss international cooperation and share practice, so that AI can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and to closing digital divides. The resolution uses the term without defining it.

Scope note: Read from the copy hosted by the Office of the President of the General Assembly. Covers the non-military domain only.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · unga-global-dialogue

interpretationConfidence: mediumContestability: medium

Read in order, the documents move from field-defining scholarship and principles (2017–2021), to organisational management systems and risk functions (2020–2023), to national strategies, laws and standing international bodies (2024–2026). The term spreads faster than any shared definition of it.

Our reading: A pattern in the documents compared here; earlier and later documents exist in each category.

Inspect evidence · 8 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

AI Governance: A Research Agenda (opens in a new tab)

p. 5 (definition); p. 6 (contrast with AI safety); abstract, p. 1

Defines AI governance as a field that studies how humanity can best navigate the transition to advanced AI. It contrasts governance, which focuses on the institutions and contexts in which AI is built and used, with technical AI safety.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · dafoe-govai-definition

Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 1, Definitions (related terms), “AI governance”

Defines AI governance as stakeholders designing and operating technological, organisational and social systems to keep the risks of using AI at levels stakeholders find acceptable while maximising AI’s benefits.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-definition

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

OECD AI Principles (opens in a new tab)

Recommendation 2.3(a)–(b), OECD/LEGAL/0449

Asks governments to promote an agile policy environment, use outcome-based approaches that leave flexibility in meeting governance objectives, co-operate for interoperable governance, and review and adapt their frameworks. The Recommendation defines AI system and AI actors but not AI governance.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · oecd-agile-adapt

Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) (opens in a new tab)

Section 5.1, GOVERN function; figure 5

Describes GOVERN as a cross-cutting function that builds a culture of risk management in organisations and aligns AI risk management with organisational principles, policies and priorities. Attention to governance is continual over an AI system’s lifespan.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · nist-govern-function

ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Information technology — Artificial intelligence — Management system (opens in a new tab)

Public page, FAQ

Says implementing the standard means putting in place policies and procedures for the sound governance of an organisation in relation to AI, using the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, and continually improving an AI management system.

Scope note: The standard itself is paid; this record relies on the publisher’s public description.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · iso-42001-sound-governance

Resolution 79/325: Terms of reference and modalities for the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance (opens in a new tab)

Operative paragraph 4

Establishes the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, with governments and all relevant stakeholders, as a platform to discuss international cooperation and share practice, so that AI can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and to closing digital divides. The resolution uses the term without defining it.

Scope note: Read from the copy hosted by the Office of the President of the General Assembly. Covers the non-military domain only.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · unga-global-dialogue

02Definitions describe what governance is made of

interpretationConfidence: mediumContestability: medium

Where explicit definitions exist, most (nine of thirteen here) pair a set of instruments, such as rules, practices, processes or frameworks, with a purpose clause such as “to ensure” compliance, alignment or responsible use. They describe what governance is made of more often than what it acts on.

Inspect evidence · 5 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

Artificial Intelligence Governance For Businesses (opens in a new tab)

Section “AI governance definition”, p. 4

Defines AI governance for business as the structure of rules, practices and processes that ensures an organisation’s AI technology sustains and extends its strategies and objectives.

Scope note: Read from the authors’ arXiv copy, which shows the journal DOI and a 2022 copyright notice.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · schneider-definition

What is AI governance? (IBM Think explainer) (opens in a new tab)

Opening paragraphs

Defines AI governance as the processes, standards and guardrails that help keep AI systems safe and ethical, and says it is about sustaining ethical standards over time, not one-time compliance.

Scope note: A vendor explainer, included because it is widely read, not for its standing. IBM sells AI governance products.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · ibm-definition

Global Trends in AI Governance: Evolving Country Approaches (opens in a new tab)

Section 1.1, footnote 7

For the report’s purposes, governance means the broader framework of laws, rules, practices and processes used to ensure AI is developed and used responsibly. Elsewhere it describes governance as an iterative, agile process.

Scope note: Read from the World Bank’s plain-text rendering of the report; page markers are approximate.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · world-bank-governance-definition

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

03Adapting is expected; timing is rarely discussed

interpretationConfidence: highContestability: low

Most recent documents expect governance to adapt, whether described as agile, iterative, living or continually improved, including the OECD, NIST, ISO/IEC 42001, Japan, Kenya, Colorado and Singapore. Far fewer say when governance should act relative to the technology’s spread.

Inspect evidence · 7 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 2 E, “Building AI governance”

Describes agile governance: multiple stakeholders continuously run a cycle of risk analysis, goal setting, system design, operation and evaluation across governance systems in companies, regulation, infrastructure, markets and social codes.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-agile

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

OECD AI Principles (opens in a new tab)

Recommendation 2.3(a)–(b), OECD/LEGAL/0449

Asks governments to promote an agile policy environment, use outcome-based approaches that leave flexibility in meeting governance objectives, co-operate for interoperable governance, and review and adapt their frameworks. The Recommendation defines AI system and AI actors but not AI governance.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · oecd-agile-adapt

Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) (opens in a new tab)

Section 5.1, GOVERN function; figure 5

Describes GOVERN as a cross-cutting function that builds a culture of risk management in organisations and aligns AI risk management with organisational principles, policies and priorities. Attention to governance is continual over an AI system’s lifespan.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · nist-govern-function

ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Information technology — Artificial intelligence — Management system (opens in a new tab)

Public page, FAQ

Says implementing the standard means putting in place policies and procedures for the sound governance of an organisation in relation to AI, using the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, and continually improving an AI management system.

Scope note: The standard itself is paid; this record relies on the publisher’s public description.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · iso-42001-sound-governance

Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI, Version 1.0 (opens in a new tab)

Executive summary, pp. 1–2

Calls for clearly defining the responsibilities of stakeholders inside the organisation and with vendors, and for adaptive governance so the organisation can update its approach as agentic AI evolves. Calls itself a living document.

Scope note: The cover gives both 19 and 22 January 2026. IMDA announced an updated version in May 2026, which we did not read. Voluntary guidance.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · singapore-agentic-adaptive

SB24-205 Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence (enrolled act) (opens in a new tab)

Section 6-1-1703(2)(a), pp. 10–11

Requires deployers of high-risk AI to implement a risk management policy and program, specifying principles, processes and personnel, to govern deployment. The program must be iterative and regularly reviewed over the system’s life cycle, and names the NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 as benchmarks. The act does not define governance.

Scope note: Signed 17 May 2024 according to the LegiScan status page. The enrolled text gives an effective date of 1 February 2026; later amendments to that date were not checked.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · colorado-risk-program

04The Global South frames governance around development and choice

interpretationConfidence: highContestability: low

Global South documents tie governance to development, inclusion and the room to make national choices: the African Union to inclusion and African agendas, the Montevideo declaration to regional context and each country’s policy space, ECLAC to the state’s capacity to steer AI towards development, and the UN resolution to closing digital divides.

Inspect evidence · 4 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Declaración de Montevideo (opens in a new tab)

Preamble

Our translation: affirms that AI governance must take account of the region’s particular socioeconomic and cultural contexts, address risks and impacts across the life cycle, and promote digital inclusion and equitable access, while respecting each country’s power to set its own policy.

Scope note: A non-binding ministerial declaration, in Spanish; passage summaries are our translation.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · montevideo-governance

Índice Latinoamericano de Inteligencia Artificial (ILIA) 2025: fichas de país y aspectos metodológicos (opens in a new tab)

Methodology, governance dimension, pp. 21–22

Our translation: the index’s governance dimension tries to approximate the state’s effective capacity to steer the deployment of AI and align it with development objectives, measured through strategy, institutions, budgets, targets and monitoring.

Scope note: In Spanish; passage summaries are our translation. Read from the index’s own site.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · cepal-ilia-governance

Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy (opens in a new tab)

Section 2.4.1, “AI Governance and Regulation”, pp. 33–36

Calls effective governance a key mechanism for making the use and development of AI inclusive of diverse populations, serving African agendas and avoiding harm, through a multi-tiered approach and agile, forward-looking, adaptable regulation.

Scope note: Global South regional body. Adopted by the AU Executive Council at its session of 18–19 July 2024 and posted by the AU on 9 August 2024; a strategy, not binding law.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · au-effective-governance

Resolution 79/325: Terms of reference and modalities for the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance (opens in a new tab)

Operative paragraph 4

Establishes the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, with governments and all relevant stakeholders, as a platform to discuss international cooperation and share practice, so that AI can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and to closing digital divides. The resolution uses the term without defining it.

Scope note: Read from the copy hosted by the Office of the President of the General Assembly. Covers the non-military domain only.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · unga-global-dialogue

How our definition is built

Definition

AI governance is the field of inquiry and practice that asks how societies should shape the incentives, institutions, infrastructures, and safeguards around AI so that its benefits are broadly shared and harmful patterns are addressed while they are still choices rather than conditions.

Short form, for quoting

AI governance is how societies shape the incentives, institutions, infrastructures and safeguards around AI, so its benefits are broadly shared and its harms addressed while they are still choices.

The definition was written before this survey, in the memo that began AIGovSpec. What follows is not a claim that these documents produced it. It sets out what each clause does, where it echoes others, and where it adds something they do not say.

“the field of inquiry and practice”

Boundary, and two halves

interpretationConfidence: highContestability: low

“Field of inquiry and practice” keeps together two senses that the definitions surveyed tend to separate: AI governance as a field of study (Dafoe) and as a set of instruments that organisations or governments use (Mäntymäki et al., Kenya). Hua and Belfield’s “study or practice” does the same.

Inspect evidence · 4 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

AI Governance: A Research Agenda (opens in a new tab)

p. 5 (definition); p. 6 (contrast with AI safety); abstract, p. 1

Defines AI governance as a field that studies how humanity can best navigate the transition to advanced AI. It contrasts governance, which focuses on the institutions and contexts in which AI is built and used, with technical AI safety.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · dafoe-govai-definition

AI & Antitrust: Reconciling Tensions Between Competition Law and Cooperative AI Development (opens in a new tab)

p. 418, footnote 3

Defines AI governance as the study or practice of local and global governance systems (norms, policies, laws, processes and institutions) that govern, or should govern, AI research, development, deployment and use.

Scope note: Footnote 3 attributes its definition to Ó hÉigeartaigh et al. (2020), whose published text defines AI governance differently. We treat this article as the source of the wording, which Sastry et al. (2024) and Maas (2023) reuse.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · hua-belfield-definition

Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

“how societies should”

Plural actors, and legitimacy

interpretationConfidence: mediumContestability: medium

“How societies should” sets the scope wider than a single organisation, where several explicit definitions place governance (Mäntymäki et al., Schneider et al., IAPP, IBM, Japan’s business guidelines). It is closest to Chile’s multi-actor definition of governance and the UN advisory body’s multi-stakeholder framing, and it keeps the question normative: what should be done, not only what is done.

Inspect evidence · 5 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

Artificial Intelligence Governance For Businesses (opens in a new tab)

Section “AI governance definition”, p. 4

Defines AI governance for business as the structure of rules, practices and processes that ensures an organisation’s AI technology sustains and extends its strategies and objectives.

Scope note: Read from the authors’ arXiv copy, which shows the journal DOI and a 2022 copyright notice.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · schneider-definition

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 1, Definitions (related terms), “AI governance”

Defines AI governance as stakeholders designing and operating technological, organisational and social systems to keep the risks of using AI at levels stakeholders find acceptable while maximising AI’s benefits.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-definition

Política Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial (Actualización 2024) (opens in a new tab)

Glosario, “Gobernanza”, p. 17

Our translation: governance is a process through which a community’s actors, including government, the private sector, citizens and academia, interact and take collective decisions to steer and regulate shared spaces and issues towards sustainable development.

Scope note: Adopted by decree; published in the Diario Oficial. Quotes are in Spanish; the passage summary is a translation.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · chile-gobernanza-definition

Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

Executive summary, para. vi; para. 47 (guiding principle 4)

Says AI governance is needed both to address risks and to harness AI’s potential in ways that leave no one behind, and that it must be universal, networked and rooted in adaptive multi-stakeholder collaboration. The report does not define the term.

Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-governance-crucial

“shape”

Broader than regulate, more accurate than control

interpretationConfidence: mediumContestability: medium

“Shape” treats governance as steering rather than assurance. The nearest framings are Japan’s stakeholders designing and operating systems and ECLAC’s measure of the state’s capacity to steer AI deployment; most explicit definitions instead describe instruments that ensure compliance or alignment.

Inspect evidence · 4 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 1, Definitions (related terms), “AI governance”

Defines AI governance as stakeholders designing and operating technological, organisational and social systems to keep the risks of using AI at levels stakeholders find acceptable while maximising AI’s benefits.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-definition

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

Índice Latinoamericano de Inteligencia Artificial (ILIA) 2025: fichas de país y aspectos metodológicos (opens in a new tab)

Methodology, governance dimension, pp. 21–22

Our translation: the index’s governance dimension tries to approximate the state’s effective capacity to steer the deployment of AI and align it with development objectives, measured through strategy, institutions, budgets, targets and monitoring.

Scope note: In Spanish; passage summaries are our translation. Read from the index’s own site.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · cepal-ilia-governance

“the incentives, institutions, infrastructures, and safeguards around AI”

Where governance acts

interpretationConfidence: mediumContestability: medium

None of the definitions compared here lists incentives or infrastructure among what it governs; they govern AI itself, its lifecycle, or an organisation’s use of it. The idea is not new, though: the UN advisory body says governance frameworks should “shape incentives globally”, Japan’s guidelines run agile governance across systems that include infrastructure, and Sastry et al. treat compute as one tool of AI governance. Naming incentives, institutions, infrastructures and safeguards together as the objects of governance is AIGovSpec’s own synthesis.

Our reading: The absence is judged across the documents on this page, not the whole literature. Incentives are listed first because the framework starts from why actors behave as they do; institutions, infrastructures and safeguards follow.

Inspect evidence · 5 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

AI & Antitrust: Reconciling Tensions Between Competition Law and Cooperative AI Development (opens in a new tab)

p. 418, footnote 3

Defines AI governance as the study or practice of local and global governance systems (norms, policies, laws, processes and institutions) that govern, or should govern, AI research, development, deployment and use.

Scope note: Footnote 3 attributes its definition to Ó hÉigeartaigh et al. (2020), whose published text defines AI governance differently. We treat this article as the source of the wording, which Sastry et al. (2024) and Maas (2023) reuse.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · hua-belfield-definition

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 2 E, “Building AI governance”

Describes agile governance: multiple stakeholders continuously run a cycle of risk analysis, goal setting, system design, operation and evaluation across governance systems in companies, regulation, infrastructure, markets and social codes.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-agile

ISO/IEC 38507:2022 Information technology — Governance of IT — Governance implications of the use of artificial intelligence by organizations (opens in a new tab)

Abstract

Guides an organisation’s governing body to enable and govern the organisation’s current and future use of AI so that it is effective, efficient and acceptable.

Scope note: The standard is paid; this record relies on the public abstract and a publisher preview of its opening clauses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · iso-38507-scope

Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

Para. 16; para. 35

Says any governance framework should shape incentives globally towards larger and more inclusive objectives, and calls for agile governance so that accountability keeps pace with AI.

Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-shape-incentives

Computing Power and the Governance of Artificial Intelligence (opens in a new tab)

Section 2.B, p. 11

Reuses Hua and Belfield’s definition of AI governance and treats compute governance, governing access to and use of computing power, as one tool for AI governance.

Scope note: A preprint by authors affiliated with AI developers, universities, and governance organizations; not peer reviewed. Several authors have institutional stakes in compute governance.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · sastry-compute-tool

“so that its benefits are broadly shared”

A positive objective

interpretationConfidence: highContestability: low

Organisational definitions aim governance at strategy, law and ethics principles. Broad sharing of benefits appears instead in intergovernmental and Global South framings: the UN advisory body’s “leave no one behind”, the African Union’s inclusion and African agendas, and the Montevideo declaration’s inclusion and equitable access.

Inspect evidence · 4 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

Declaración de Montevideo (opens in a new tab)

Preamble

Our translation: affirms that AI governance must take account of the region’s particular socioeconomic and cultural contexts, address risks and impacts across the life cycle, and promote digital inclusion and equitable access, while respecting each country’s power to set its own policy.

Scope note: A non-binding ministerial declaration, in Spanish; passage summaries are our translation.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · montevideo-governance

Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

Executive summary, para. vi; para. 47 (guiding principle 4)

Says AI governance is needed both to address risks and to harness AI’s potential in ways that leave no one behind, and that it must be universal, networked and rooted in adaptive multi-stakeholder collaboration. The report does not define the term.

Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-governance-crucial

Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy (opens in a new tab)

Section 2.4.1, “AI Governance and Regulation”, pp. 33–36

Calls effective governance a key mechanism for making the use and development of AI inclusive of diverse populations, serving African agendas and avoiding harm, through a multi-tiered approach and agile, forward-looking, adaptable regulation.

Scope note: Global South regional body. Adopted by the AU Executive Council at its session of 18–19 July 2024 and posted by the AU on 9 August 2024; a strategy, not binding law.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · au-effective-governance

“and harmful patterns are addressed”

Patterns, not incidents

interpretationConfidence: mediumContestability: high

Most definitions aim at risk, compliance, or responsible and ethical use; several of them, by their wording, operate system by system. AIGovSpec aims at harmful patterns. The closest counterparts are UNESCO’s call for anticipation and monitoring of impact and NIST’s view that governance is continual over a system’s lifespan, but neither makes patterns, as distinct from individual risks, the target.

Inspect evidence · 4 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 1, Definitions (related terms), “AI governance”

Defines AI governance as stakeholders designing and operating technological, organisational and social systems to keep the risks of using AI at levels stakeholders find acceptable while maximising AI’s benefits.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-definition

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (opens in a new tab)

Policy Area 2, “Ethical governance and stewardship”, para. 54

Asks Member States to make AI governance mechanisms inclusive, transparent, multidisciplinary, multilateral and multi-stakeholder, and says governance should include anticipation, protection, monitoring of impact, enforcement and redress.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · unesco-governance-mechanisms

Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) (opens in a new tab)

Section 5.1, GOVERN function; figure 5

Describes GOVERN as a cross-cutting function that builds a culture of risk management in organisations and aligns AI risk management with organisational principles, policies and priorities. Attention to governance is continual over an AI system’s lifespan.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · nist-govern-function

“while they are still choices rather than conditions”

The temporal principle

interpretationConfidence: mediumContestability: medium

Adaptability is common: the OECD, the UN advisory body, Japan, Kenya, the African Union and the World Bank all expect governance to be agile or regularly revised. Acting before arrangements set is rarer. Dafoe urges embedding principles while the stakes are relatively low, and Ojanen et al. draw on Guston’s anticipatory governance (“while effective intervention is still possible”), but none of the definitions compared here builds that timing into the definition of AI governance itself. This is the clause in which AIGovSpec departs most from them.

Inspect evidence · 8 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

AI Governance: A Research Agenda (opens in a new tab)

pp. 10 and 13

Stresses timing: how fast and suddenly capabilities may arrive, forecasting key moments, and embedding principles early, while the stakes are still relatively low.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · dafoe-govai-timing

Governing rapid technological change: Policy Delphi on the future of European AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2

Uses Guston’s definition of anticipatory governance: the institutional capacity to manage emerging technologies and their societal impacts while effective intervention is still possible.

Scope note: A preprint, not peer reviewed. The anticipatory-governance definition it uses is quoted from Guston (2014).

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · ojanen-anticipatory

Global Trends in AI Governance: Evolving Country Approaches (opens in a new tab)

Section 1.1, footnote 7

For the report’s purposes, governance means the broader framework of laws, rules, practices and processes used to ensure AI is developed and used responsibly. Elsewhere it describes governance as an iterative, agile process.

Scope note: Read from the World Bank’s plain-text rendering of the report; page markers are approximate.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · world-bank-governance-definition

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 2 E, “Building AI governance”

Describes agile governance: multiple stakeholders continuously run a cycle of risk analysis, goal setting, system design, operation and evaluation across governance systems in companies, regulation, infrastructure, markets and social codes.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-agile

Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 (opens in a new tab)

Table 1.1, “Definitions of key terms”, p. 15

Defines AI governance as a framework of policies, guidelines and practices, including oversight, risk management and accountability, designed to make AI development and deployment responsible, ethical and transparent. The executive summary calls for an agile and dynamic governance framework.

Scope note: Read from a copy hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data; no government-hosted PDF could be found.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · kenya-definition

OECD AI Principles (opens in a new tab)

Recommendation 2.3(a)–(b), OECD/LEGAL/0449

Asks governments to promote an agile policy environment, use outcome-based approaches that leave flexibility in meeting governance objectives, co-operate for interoperable governance, and review and adapt their frameworks. The Recommendation defines AI system and AI actors but not AI governance.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · oecd-agile-adapt

Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

Para. 16; para. 35

Says any governance framework should shape incentives globally towards larger and more inclusive objectives, and calls for agile governance so that accountability keeps pace with AI.

Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-shape-incentives

Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy (opens in a new tab)

Section 2.4.1, “AI Governance and Regulation”, pp. 33–36

Calls effective governance a key mechanism for making the use and development of AI inclusive of diverse populations, serving African agendas and avoiding harm, through a multi-tiered approach and agile, forward-looking, adaptable regulation.

Scope note: Global South regional body. Adopted by the AU Executive Council at its session of 18–19 July 2024 and posted by the AU on 9 August 2024; a strategy, not binding law.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · au-effective-governance

Read the full explanation of each clause in the framework

What our definition leaves open

interpretationConfidence: highContestability: low

The AIGovSpec definition is less operational than organisational definitions such as Mäntymäki et al. or Japan’s business guidelines. It does not say which rules, processes or roles to put in place; in this framework, the tests and diagnostic questions carry that work.

Inspect evidence · 2 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Defining organizational AI governance (opens in a new tab)

Section 2, “Defining AI governance”

Defines organisational AI governance as a system of rules, practices, processes and technological tools that keeps an organisation’s use of AI aligned with its strategy, objectives and values, with legal requirements and with its ethical AI principles.

Scope note: Birkstedt et al. (Internet Research, 2023) refine this definition, dropping “technological tools” and adding requirements set by stakeholders.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · mantymaki-definition

AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (provisional English translation) (opens in a new tab)

Part 1, Definitions (related terms), “AI governance”

Defines AI governance as stakeholders designing and operating technological, organisational and social systems to keep the risks of using AI at levels stakeholders find acceptable while maximising AI’s benefits.

Scope note: A provisional translation; the Japanese original prevails. The same definition appears in Ver1.01 (December 2024). Non-binding guidance for businesses.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · japan-definition

interpretationConfidence: highContestability: medium

“How societies should” leaves open who decides and how. Chile’s definition names the actors (government, the private sector, citizens and academia), and the UN advisory body calls for multi-stakeholder collaboration; the AIGovSpec definition names neither and relies on its legitimacy test instead.

Inspect evidence · 2 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Política Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial (Actualización 2024) (opens in a new tab)

Glosario, “Gobernanza”, p. 17

Our translation: governance is a process through which a community’s actors, including government, the private sector, citizens and academia, interact and take collective decisions to steer and regulate shared spaces and issues towards sustainable development.

Scope note: Adopted by decree; published in the Diario Oficial. Quotes are in Spanish; the passage summary is a translation.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · chile-gobernanza-definition

Governing AI for Humanity: Final Report (opens in a new tab)

Executive summary, para. vi; para. 47 (guiding principle 4)

Says AI governance is needed both to address risks and to harness AI’s potential in ways that leave no one behind, and that it must be universal, networked and rooted in adaptive multi-stakeholder collaboration. The report does not define the term.

Scope note: An advisory body report representing a majority consensus of its members in their personal capacity. It is not a UN member-state decision. Page locators refer to the PDF's printed page numbers.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · un-hlab-governance-crucial

interpretationConfidence: highContestability: medium

Unlike the Council of Europe Convention, Brazil’s bill and the African Commission’s resolution, the definition does not name human rights, democracy or the rule of law. In AIGovSpec, rights enter through safeguards and the legitimacy test, so a reader who expects them in the definition itself will not find them there.

Inspect evidence · 3 passages

Passage summaries are paraphrases, not quotations. Open the source to read the full passage.

Resolution ACHPR/Res. 473 (EXT.OS/XXXI) 2021 on human and peoples’ rights and artificial intelligence, robotics and other new and emerging technologies (opens in a new tab)

Operative paragraphs

Calls on states to work towards a comprehensive legal and ethical governance framework for AI and emerging technologies, grounded in human rights and African norms and values, with meaningful human control.

Scope note: Read from the AfricanLII copy. A resolution of a regional human-rights body, not binding law.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · achpr-473-framework

Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS No. 225) (opens in a new tab)

Preamble; Articles 1, 2 and 16

Aims to ensure activities within the lifecycle of AI systems are fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law. It defines only “artificial intelligence system”; the word governance does not appear in the text we read. Article 16 requires risk and impact management applied iteratively across the lifecycle, including testing before first use.

Scope note: The Council of Europe overview page was reviewed, not the treaty text itself. The Convention binds only parties for which it has entered into force, and is largely framed as obligations on states to adopt measures. Signature and ratification status changes; verify before relying on it. The treaty text itself (CETS 225) was opened on 19 October 2026 for the definitions comparison.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · coe-no-governance-term

Projeto de Lei nº 2338/2023 (Brazil artificial intelligence bill) (opens in a new tab)

Art. 1; Art. 4, X (bill text sent to the Chamber of Deputies)

Our translation: sets general national rules for the responsible governance of AI systems in Brazil to protect fundamental rights and stimulate responsible innovation and competitiveness. It defines the national AI regulation and governance system, but not governance itself.

Scope note: Pending bill, not law. Passed the Senate on 10 December 2024; awaiting a committee report in the Chamber of Deputies as of 9 October 2026. Earlier passages rely on the Senate’s official news agency; the definitions comparison cites Articles 1 and 4 of the text received by the Chamber of Deputies.

Passage checked 2026-10-19 · brazil-responsible-governance

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