#43 Asia AI Policy Monitor
🇦🇺 AI copyright licensing debate | 🇰🇷 Broadcasters sue OpenAI | 🇺🇸🇨🇳 Disney vs ByteDance AI video dispute | 🇰🇷 GenAI privacy transparency guidance | 🇮🇳 AI Impact Summit declaration
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Intellectual Property
Australian publishers publish opinion on why AI firms do not license their work.
There are now more than 107 active copyright infringement cases against AI platforms worldwide. Eighty-seven of them are in the United States, the jurisdiction whose “permissive” fair use framework as the Financial Review suggested is one model that AI enthusiasts might want Australia to borrow from. The US is not a copyright utopia. It is a litigation war zone…
Since the Attorney-General rejected the text and data mining exception last year, not one major AI platform has approached Australian rights holders to seek a licence. Not one. In every other industry, whether it’s broadcast, streaming, hospitality, film production, businesses that use copyrighted material seek a licence and pay for it. That is how the system works.
South Korean broadcasters sue OpenAI for infringement.
Korean broadcasters claim that while OpenAI has entered into paid licensing agreements with global media companies, it refuses negotiations with them
American studios sue Chinese firm ByteDance over IP infringement in AI video tool.
On February 13, The Walt Disney Company sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, contending that it has engaged in copyright infringement by ingesting its intellectual property into its Seedance 2.0 AI training data set.
ByteDance, also owner of the TikTok social media platform, calls Seedance 2.0 “a substantial leap in generation quality. It achieves a higher usability rate for complex interaction and motion scenes, with significant improvements in physical accuracy, visual realism, and controllability, making it highly tailored for industrial-grade creation scenarios.”
Privacy
South Korea’s PIPC issues recommendations on genAI privacy rules following a conference of leading firms.
This meeting was organized to discuss ways to strengthen the transparency of personal information processing and improve reasonable personal information processing policies (hereinafter referred to as “processing policies”) in an environment where generative AI services are rapidly expanding and becoming more sophisticated.
The ‘Personal Information Processing Policy Evaluation’ is a system designed to enhance the transparency and accountability of personal information processing by evaluating the processing policies* established and disclosed by personal information processors. Starting in 2024, evaluations will be conducted on representative services that utilize new technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, or that process large amounts of sensitive information and personal information.
Multilateral
India’s AI Imapct Summit ended with a declaration adopted by the following countries in Asia: India (of course), Fiji, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan.
Robust digital infrastructure and meaningful and affordable connectivity are prerequisites for deploying AI and unlocking its full potential. Inspired by the principle of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one family), we recognize the importance of enhancing the affordability of and access to AI resources that would be critical to enabling all countries to develop, adopt and deploy AI for the benefit of their citizens.
To this effect, we take note of the Charter for the Democratic Diffusion of AI as a voluntary and non-binding framework to promote access to foundational AI resources, support locally relevant innovation, and strengthen resilient AI ecosystems while respecting national laws.
Japan and Canada issue joint statement on AI under a joint strategic framework.
Advance cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) policy, including responsible AI governance, shared approaches to safety and security standards, and coordination on building a safe, secure, and trustworthy AI ecosystem that fosters innovation, supports democratic resilience, and protects fundamental rights.
Governance
South Korea’s Presidential Council on AI publishes a roadmap.
South Korea addresses concerns around AI and elections.
Science and ICT, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Visit-US Integration Committee, Prosecutor's Office, National Police Agency ㅇ This meeting was held to discuss more systematic response measures at the government-wide level ahead of the June 3 local elections, as social problems are becoming more serious due to fake news using artificial intelligence (AI).
India’s Ministry of Health adopted an AI strategy.
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, today launched two pioneering digital health initiatives — SAHI (Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for India) and BODH (Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI) — during the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The launch marks a significant milestone in advancing safe, ethical, and evidence-based deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India’s healthcare ecosystem.
China ends consultations on rules on autonomous driving.
In accordance with the Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China and the Administrative Measures for Mandatory National Standards, the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized the National Automotive Standardization Technical Committee to carry out the formulation and revision of five mandatory national standards, including the Safety Requirements for Automated Driving Systems of Intelligent Connected Vehicles. Drafts for public comment have been completed and are now open for public feedback.
Singapore publishes AI in healthcare guidance.
In healthcare settings, we have identified three broad categories of AI use cases – Clinical, Clinical-Ops, and Ops. These are defined in Table 1 and the examples serve to illustrate the three AI use cases. Please refer to Chapter 5.1 for the definition and detailed explanation of Medical Devices (MD) and non-Medical Devices.
Advocacy
Thailand Cybersecurity Agency opens consultation on AI guidelines.
Vietnam is seeking consultations on high risk AI systems.
The Ministry of Science and Technology is drafting a Decision of the Prime Minister promulgating the List of High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Systems. The Government Electronic Information Portal would like to present the full text and request that agencies, organizations, and individuals both domestically and internationally study it and contribute their opinions.
Uzbekistan issued a public consultation on AI ethics guidelines.
UN’s WSIS+20 UNGA side events are open for submission of ideas.
China’s TC260 opened a consultation on cybersecurity for AI training data cleansing standards.
To effectively address the new risks and challenges brought about by the rapid development and application of artificial intelligence technology, comprehensively improve the security level of artificial intelligence applications in various industries, and ensure the high-quality development of artificial intelligence, the Secretariat has organized the compilation of four draft guidelines for cybersecurity standards and practices, including the “ General Principles of Artificial Intelligence Application Security Guidelines , “ the “ Artificial Intelligence Application Security Guidelines for Broadcasting, Television and Online Audiovisual, “ the “ User Security Guidelines for Using Artificial Intelligence,” and the “Security Guidelines for Cleaning Artificial Intelligence Training Data . “
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.