Page 24 - The Annual AI Governance Report 2025 Steering the Future of AI

The Annual AI Governance Report 2025: Steering the Future of AI

Multilateral and Cross-Regional Agreements: Regional and global forums are beginning to
incorporate AI-safety provisions into wider economic and governance agreements. Within
Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) will be the first trade
pact to require trusted data flows, shared AI testbeds, and common safeguards for 'high-impact' International AI Theme 3:
models across all ten members, intending to give the region a unified baseline for responsible
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deployment. Across other major economies, the G7 Hiroshima AI Process has evolved into a
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voluntary code of conduct that is now endorsed by 49 jurisdictions. This commitment involves
conducting risk-based evaluations and public reporting for frontier systems, thereby facilitating
regulatory interoperability beyond the G7 itself. For binding law, the Council of Europe AI
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Convention (open for signature since September 2024) establishes the legal duty to respect
human rights, democracy, and the rule of law throughout the AI life cycle. It has already been
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endorsed by the EU, the US, and the UK. At global level, the UN Global Digital Compact, aims
to set global norms and rules for digital cooperation. 67

In the Annex please find a list of multilateral and national initiatives as of June 2025 (the list is
indicative and non-exhaustive).

63 https:// www .weforum .org/ stories/ 2025/ 05/ asean -digital -economy -framework -agreement -a -gamechanger/
64 Kalash, S. Y. (2024, November 11). AI and the Digital Economy Framework Agreement: Preparing ASEAN
for the Next Tech Wave. Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).
65 Assiciated Press. (2024, May 2). Japan’s Kishida unveils a framework for global regulation of generative AI.
The Associated Press.
66 Council of Europe. (2024, September 5). Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights,
Democracy and the Rule of Law. Council of Europe.
67 United Nations. (n.d.). Global Digital Compact [Web page]. Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies.

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