The AI governance regime complex

The promises and pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have led to an intense race to regulate the technology. Given the transnational externalities posed by AI, state and non-state actors have recently turned their attention to the global level, resulting in a rapid proliferation of international AI governance institutions. Yet, the current global landscape to regulate AI is characterized by a variety of nascent and partially overlapping governance arrangements, resembling an AI regime complex. This chapter makes a threefold contribution. First, it surveys existing literature on the global governance of AI and regime complex theory, outlining how both literatures can complement each other. Second, it provides a descriptive mapping of the core characteristics of the AI governance landscape along established dimensions of regime complexes. Third, it compares the AI regime complex with other transnational policy issues and highlights implications for achieving effective governance outcomes for AI.