Artificial Intelligence · Azerbaijan
AI regulation in Azerbaijan (2026)
Azerbaijan shaded by its artificial intelligence status
Azerbaijan does not yet have a comprehensive horizontal AI law, but has enacted a national AI Strategy by presidential decree (March 2025) mandating a dedicated legal framework by 2027, adopted ISO-based AI management standards, and passed sectoral Criminal Code amendments criminalising non-consensual AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media. The overall regulatory architecture remains under construction, with the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport tasked with drafting binding AI legislation.
Key points
President Ilham Aliyev signed Presidential Decree No. 530 on 19 March 2025, approving the Artificial Intelligence Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2025–2028. The strategy covers AI governance, data infrastructure, talent development, and business environment, and explicitly mandates development of a dedicated legislative framework by 2027.
Draft amendments to the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, and information-protection and media laws were introduced to the National Assembly on 17 March 2026 and subsequently passed in a third reading. The law criminalises creation or distribution of non-consensual AI-generated likeness/voice content with penalties of up to 3–7 years' imprisonment and mandates visible AI-watermark labels on synthetic media.
The Azerbaijan Standardization Institute (AZSTAND) adopted AZS ISO/IEC 42001:2025 (AI Management System), AZS ISO/IEC 23894:2025 (AI Risk Management Guidelines), AZS ISO/IEC 23053:2025 (ML Framework), and AZS ISO/IEC 24029-2:2025 (Neural Network Resilience Evaluation), providing technical conformity benchmarks ahead of binding legislation.
The 2025–2028 Strategy action plan assigns the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, Ministry of Economy, State Security Service, and Special Communication and Information Security State Service joint responsibility for drafting a standalone AI law. No such comprehensive law is in force as of May 2026; the target deadline is 2027.
As of mid-2026, Azerbaijan has no single competent authority for AI oversight. Regulatory coordination responsibilities are distributed across the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport and other ministries under the strategy's governance pillar, pending establishment of a formal institutional structure.
A parallel 2025–2027 Digital ID and Government Strategy (also approved by presidential decree, January 2025) provides the e-government infrastructure backdrop for AI deployment in public services, reinforcing the government's intent to institutionalise AI as part of a post-oil economic diversification agenda.
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