AI regulation in Pakistan (2026)

Pakistan's Federal Cabinet approved the National Artificial Intelligence Policy 2025 on 30 July 2025, making it the country's first formal national AI strategy. It is administered by the Ministry of IT & Telecom (MoITT) and overseen by an AI Council chaired by the federal IT minister.

The policy is structured around six pillars: AI innovation ecosystem (including a National AI Fund funded by 30% of the Ignite R&D Fund), human capital development (target: 1 million learners by 2027), secure AI ecosystem with regulatory sandboxes, sectoral transformation, infrastructure (national compute grid, AI hubs in Islamabad/Karachi/Lahore), and international partnerships.

Senator Afnan Ullah Khan introduced the 'Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2024' in the Senate to regulate AI in critical sectors (national security, health, education), establish a National Artificial Intelligence Commission, and impose heavy penalties (Rs 1.5–2.5 billion). As of mid-2026 it remains under review by the Senate Standing Committee on IT and has not been enacted.

Analysts and legal experts have noted that Pakistan has no binding AI-specific statute in force, leaving the policy framework without enforceable legal backing. The Friday Times (December 2025) flagged significant gaps in legal and data-protection infrastructure underpinning the policy's ambitions.

A Personal Data Protection Bill drafted by MoITT received cabinet approval in 2023 but has not been enacted into law as of mid-2026. This bill would create a National Commission for Personal Data Protection and is directly relevant to AI data-governance obligations.

The National AI Policy sets a 2035 vision for Pakistan to become a leading AI hub in South Asia, with interim targets of 90% public AI awareness by 2026, 1 million AI-trained professionals by 2030, and deployment of 50,000 AI-powered civic projects and 1,000 homegrown AI products within five years.