#29 Asia AI Policy Monitor
New Zealand AI Strategy, BRICs AI Call, Taiwan Copyright & Scraping Decision, Indonesia AI Center of Excellence
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Intellectual Property
Taiwanese court issues large penalty for copyright infringement of web crawler for big data company.
A recent judgment from Taiwan’s New Taipei District Court has sent shockwaves through the legal and tech communities last Friday. In the high-profile case between LawBank and Lawsnote, the court ruled that Lawsnote’s use of web crawling technology to extract LawBank’s legal evolution(法規沿革) data constitutes copyright infringement and unauthorized access to computer records. The verdict? A hefty NT$154,516,644(Approx. USD39,484,153) in damages and 4 years of imprisonment for 2 Lawsnote founders.
The Core Dispute: Can Legal Evolution Data Be Copyrighted?
LawBank argued that its curated legal evolution records—which detail the timeline of laws from enactment to implementation—qualify as a copyright-protected editorial work. With over 98,000 entries, each requiring an average of seven minutes to compile, the court recognized the effort as creative and protectable under copyright law.
Privacy
Australian retailer calls for changes to privacy rules to allow facial recognition software use for store safety and security.
Bunnings managing director Michael Schneider has called for privacy laws to be changed to allow the use of facial recognition in stores to reduce shoplifting and protect staff.
In a submission to a Productivity Commission review, Schneider pushed back on a Privacy Commissioner ruling against Bunnings’ earlier use of facial recognition, which found it had breached the privacy of thousands of customers.
Korea’s privacy regulator publishes survey on views of AI and privacy.
9 out of 10 Koreans: “The Role of the Personal Information Protection Commission in the AI Era is Important” Future Key Task: Strengthening Personal Information Protection Related to New Technologies
- 92.4% said personal information protection is important, and 87.9% said the role of the Personal Information Protection Commission needs to be strengthened.
Korea’s National Assembly discusses personal information in the AI era.
As global AI regulation legislation is in full swing following the enactment of the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) in August last year, this discussion will seek to find a balance between promoting AI innovation and protecting personal information in Korea.
In the keynote speech, Dr. Kang Hye-kyung of Korea University will compare and analyze AI regulations in major countries such as the EU, the US, China, and Japan on the topic of ‘Global AI regulatory trends triggered by the EU Artificial Intelligence Act.’
Korea’s PIPC reviewed the adequacy of an AI voice-phishing based cybersecurity company’s product.
The Personal Information Protection Commission plans to proactively prevent personal information infringements by establishing a method of applying laws appropriate to the personal information processing environment through a prior adequacy review system, while actively supporting the safe use of personal information and resolving uncertainty in the field during the planning process for new services and new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
Governance
Indonesia announces a plan to draft a presidential regulation on AI.
Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Nezar Patria explained that regulations regarding AI will be formulated in the form of a Presidential Regulation (Perpres) to strengthen cross-sectoral governance.
"There will be two products: an AI roadmap and regulations. Then there will be a Presidential Regulation that will apply to all institutions. So, by doing that, we are strengthening our regulations on AI," he explained in a meeting with Singapore's Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, Terrence Teo, at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (July 16, 2025).
Australia publishes a report on the country’s AI ecosystem.
This report gives an updated analysis of Australia’s artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. It looks at the size, structure and specialisations of the AI workforce, companies and research activities across the nation.
The National Artificial Intelligence Centre (NAIC) published 2 Australia’s AI ecosystem reports in 2023. This report aims to provide data‑driven insights into the current state of Australia’s AI ecosystem. This will allow decision‑makers in both the public and private sectors make informed choices about investment opportunities, upskilling pathways and growth potential in the industry.
By understanding our current position and trajectory, Australia can better harness AI to drive economic growth, address societal challenges and secure a competitive position in the global AI landscape.
China’s Xiamen city government issued a list of AI use cases (translated by CSET).
The list released here focuses on the field of government affairs + AI and provides detailed information on each scenario, including the requesting units, core requirements, expected goals, and contact information, providing AI enterprises, research institutions, investment institutions, and other relevant parties with clear business development directions and opportunities for cooperation.
Indonesia opens AI Center of Excellence (our newsletter was cited in the article).
[Translated from Bahasa] The government has officially launched the Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence program. Several major telecommunications and technology network companies are also involved. However, amidst this development, there are still no strong regulations surrounding AI and data protection.
The major companies involved in the program are telecommunications operator Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, graphics processing (GPU) company Nvidia, and communications technology network company Cisco.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence Program has six activities, namely the AI sandbox (an isolated virtual environment for AI exploration), AI skills training, a startup accelerator, an enterprise hub, the development of a national-scale large language model, and the formulation of ethical AI policies.
China’s CAC published a updated list of domestic deep synthesis system providers.
In accordance with the "Internet Information Service Deep Synthesis Management Regulations", the twelfth batch of domestic deep synthesis service algorithm filing information is now publicly released. Specific information can be queried through the Internet Information Service Algorithm Filing System (https://beian.cac.gov.cn). If any unit or individual has any doubts, please send an email to pingguchu@cac.gov.cn. The doubts should be based on facts and provide relevant evidence.
New Zealand released a nation-wide AI Strategy.
New Zealand’s AI adoption trajectory shows promise but requires acceleration. Larger businesses are seeing the value of AI and are investing accordingly. A 2024 Datacom survey revealed that 67% of larger New Zealand businesses now utilise some form of AI, representing a substantial increase from 48% in 2023, suggesting New Zealand is catching up rapidly (Datacom, 2024). However, a gap is emerging with respect to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); a survey undertaken by NZIER and Spark in 2024 revealed that 68% of SMEs have no plans to evaluate or invest in AI technology (Spark New Zealand, 2024), and that the depth of AI integration remains limited. New Zealand’s AI uptake currently lags comparator countries. For example, only 38% of Australian SMEs reported that they were not planning to adopt AI (Department of Industry, Science and Resources, 2025). This strategy aims to raise awareness of how AI can give New Zealand businesses a competitive edge and drive adoption across the private sector.
Multilateral
AI Safety Institutes from Singapore, Japan, Australia, Canada, the European Commission, France, Kenya, South Korea and the United Kingdom undertake joint testing of agentic AI.
Jointly conducted by participants across the International Network, including representatives from Singapore, Japan, Australia, Canada, European Commission, France, Kenya, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
Participants from across the International Network, including representatives from Singapore, Japan, Australia, Canada, the European Commission, France, Kenya, South Korea and the United Kingdom have come together to align their approaches to agentic evaluations.I
The UAE will have an accession working group formed to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (including Singapore, New Zealand, South Korea and Chile), which includes provisions on AI.
The UK and Singapore agree to cooperation on digital finance, including on AI.
The UK and Singapore discussed the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial services sector, including current trends, emerging use cases, barriers to adoption and their respective approaches to AI regulation. The FCA and MAS agreed to develop joint collaboration on AI, focusing on sharing innovative AI solutions and holding discussions on cross-border AI developments. The FCA-MAS AI Innovation Showcase in London on 3 July will kick off this collaborative programme with leading AI-in-finance solutions from the UK and Singapore.
Singapore and European Union Free Trade Association States concluded a digital trade agreement, including provisions on AI.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
To harness the benefits of AI technologies in a responsible manner, Singapore and EFTA will promote the ethical, trusted and safe use of AI, guided by interoperable and internationally aligned governance frameworks
BRICs call for protections again unauthorized use of data by AI.
BRICS leaders in Rio de Janeiro have called for stricter global rules on how AI uses data, demanding fair compensation for content used without permission.
The group’s draft statement highlights growing frustration with tech giants using vast amounts of unlicensed content to train AI models.
Trust & Safety
Hong Kong deepfake porn case raises issues about effectiveness of current regulations.
Hong Kong does not have specific laws regulating AI. But the new technology does not fall outside the law. Officials say most legislations designed to prevent crimes in the physical world are in principle also applicable to the cyber world. The Crimes Ordinance was amended in 2021 to introduce offences related to the publication or threatened publication of intimate images without consent. These offences are also applicable to images altered by AI technology to depict an intimate body part or an intimate act of an individual, according to the government. Separately, various authorities have issued guidelines to promote responsible use of AI in different fields.
In the News & Analysis
Singapore’s EDB published a report on Singapore & Southeast Asia business AI.
CSIS publishes a report on how AI can save US ROK trade talks.
Shifting timetables for lifting the pause on Liberation Day tariffs and on-again, off-again tariff announcements have become hallmarks of the Trump administration’s trade strategy. For longstanding allies with export-oriented economies integrated with both the United States and China, the stakes are exceedingly high. South Korea stands out in this regard: It has run a bilateral merchandise surplus with the United States for 27 consecutive years while benefiting from a defense umbrella that the Trump administration views as overly generous. These two facts put the Republic of Korea (ROK) squarely in the sights of Washington’s rebalancing campaign. While the jury is still out on the efficacy of this campaign, the United States has demonstrated its willingness to impose—and ratchet up—an array of tariffs to force economic concessions such as increasing investment in U.S. manufacturing or decoupling from China, as well as noneconomic concessions such as increasing defense expenditures.
FAIR Forward publishes report on AI policy playbook through the African and Asian Lens, with focus on India and Indonesia from Asia.
The AI Policy Playbook outlines essential components for policymakers to consider when cooperating to chart their own AI paths and developing context-specific AI governance frameworks to support responsible1 and open AI ecosystems in Africa and Asia. This playbook and its lessons, drawn from African and Asian contexts, are aimed at government officials and policymakers2 in these geographies more broadly. Audiences in other parts of the world can also gain meaningful and more diverse perspectives on how AI policy development can be approached, facilitating the cross-pollination of ideas.
New report focuses on AI in the Pacific Islands.
No Pacific Island country has yet published a national AI strategy although Fiji and Papua New Guinea are making progress on developing theirs. National AI strategies outline priorities, goals and intended actions for how AI should be developed, used and regulated. Achieving a clear vision of how the benefits of AI can be inclusively obtained and advance the national interest requires grassroots engagement with local communities to ensure sensitivity to the population’s needs and concerns.
Advocacy
China’s TC260 conducts public comments on guidelines for detecting synthetic AI content until July 6.
The Asia AI Policy Monitor is the monthly newsletter for Digital Governance Asia, a non-profit organization with staff in Taipei and Seattle. If you are interested in contributing news, analysis, or participating in advocacy to promote Asia’s rights-promoting innovation in AI, please reach out to our secretariat staff at APAC GATES or Seth Hays at seth@apacgates.com.