Artificial Intelligence · Brunei
AI regulation in Brunei (2026)
Brunei shaded by its artificial intelligence status
Brunei Darussalam's AI governance is led by the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry (AITI), which published a voluntary, risk-based AI Governance and Ethics Guide in April 2025 built around seven core principles. No binding, comprehensive AI law exists; the country favours a flexible, innovation-friendly approach aligned with the ASEAN regional framework. A national Data and AI Strategy and the next Digital Economy Master Plan (post-2025) are in development, with AI designated as central to both.
Key points
AITI officially published the Guide on AI Governance and Ethics for Brunei Darussalam on 11 April 2025. The guide is voluntary, technology-neutral, and sector-agnostic, structured around seven principles: transparency & explainability, data protection & governance, security & safety, robustness & reliability, fairness & equity, human centricity, and accountability & integrity. It is designated a living document, with sector-specific supplements anticipated.
AITI established a 25-member AI Governance and Ethics Working Group in May 2024, drawing from government, industry, and academia. A public consultation draft was released in July 2024; stakeholder feedback was incorporated before the guide's April 2025 finalisation.
Brunei enacted the Personal Data Protection Order 2025 (gazetted as S 1/2025) in January 2025, granting individuals rights over their personal data held by private-sector organisations and NGOs, with AITI as the enforcement authority. A one-year grace period applies. While not an AI-specific law, it provides a binding data-governance layer relevant to AI systems.
Brunei's AI governance framework is explicitly aligned with the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics and draws on the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and EU Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. Consistent with ASEAN's regional stance, Brunei has deliberately chosen voluntary guidelines over binding legislation to favour innovation.
The Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC) is developing a national Data and AI Strategy and a new Digital Economy Master Plan in which AI is described as 'central'. These are expected to follow the conclusion of the current five-year masterplan in 2025, but no binding AI law has been proposed as part of this pipeline.
As of May 2026, Brunei has no enacted comprehensive AI legislation and no tabled AI-specific bill. Existing ICT legislation (administered by AITI) and the new PDPO provide ancillary governance, but binding AI-specific rules do not exist at either the general or sectoral level.
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