19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments

OECD Legal Instruments

This list has been created from the Compendium of OECD Legal Instruments and
includes a selection of legal instruments.

For access to the official and up-to-date information, including the full text of the selected
legal instruments, please consult the Compendium at
[Link]

OECD/LEGAL/0449
Adopted on: 22/05/2019
Amended on: 03/05/2024

Text

Background information

Related document(s)

Unofficial translations

Committee(s)

Date(s)/Reference(s)

Related instrument(s)

Implementation

Adherents

Download/Print Booklet

Share Link

Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence

In force Recommendation Digital

THE COUNCIL,

HAVING REGARD to Article 5 b) of the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development of 14 December 1960;
[Link] 1/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments
HAVING REGARD to standards developed by the OECD in the areas of privacy, digital security, consumer protection
and responsible business conduct;

HAVING REGARD to the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/70/1) as well as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights;

HAVING REGARD to the important work being carried out on artificial intelligence (hereafter, “AI”) in other
international governmental and non-governmental fora;

RECOGNISING that AI has pervasive, far-reaching and global implications that are transforming societies, economic
sectors and the world of work, and are likely to increasingly do so in the future;

RECOGNISING that AI has the potential to improve the welfare and well-being of people, to contribute to positive
sustainable global economic activity, to increase innovation and productivity, and to help respond to key global
challenges;

RECOGNISING that, at the same time, these transformations may have disparate effects within, and between
societies and economies, notably regarding economic shifts, competition, transitions in the labour market,
inequalities, and implications for democracy and human rights, privacy and data protection, and digital security;

RECOGNISING that trust is a key enabler of digital transformation; that, although the nature of future AI applications
and their implications may be hard to foresee, the trustworthiness of AI systems is a key factor for the diffusion and
adoption of AI; and that a well-informed whole-of-society public debate is necessary for capturing the beneficial
potential of the technology, while limiting the risks associated with it;

UNDERLINING that certain existing national and international legal, regulatory and policy frameworks already have
relevance to AI, including those related to human rights, consumer and personal data protection, intellectual
property rights, responsible business conduct, and competition, while noting that the appropriateness of some
frameworks may need to be assessed and new approaches developed;

RECOGNISING that given the rapid development and implementation of AI, there is a need for a stable policy
environment that promotes a human-centric approach to trustworthy AI, that fosters research, preserves economic
incentives to innovate, and that applies to all stakeholders according to their role and the context;

CONSIDERING that embracing the opportunities offered, and addressing the challenges raised, by AI applications,
and empowering stakeholders to engage is essential to fostering adoption of trustworthy AI in society, and to turning
AI trustworthiness into a competitive parameter in the global marketplace.

On the proposal of the Digital Policy Committee:

I. AGREES that for the purpose of this Recommendation the following terms should be understood as follows:

‒ AI system: An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from
the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions
that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy
and adaptiveness after deployment.

‒ AI system lifecycle: An AI system lifecycle typically involves several phases that include to: plan and
design; collect and process data; build model(s) and/or adapt existing model(s) to specific tasks; test,
evaluate, verify and validate; make available for use/deploy; operate and monitor; and
retire/decommission. These phases often take place in an iterative manner and are not necessarily
sequential. The decision to retire an AI system from operation may occur at any point during the operation
and monitoring phase.

‒ AI actors: AI actors are those who play an active role in the AI system lifecycle, including organisations
and individuals that deploy or operate AI.

‒ AI knowledge: AI knowledge refers to the skills and resources, such as data, code, algorithms, models,
research, know-how, training programmes, governance, processes, and best practices required to
understand and participate in the AI system lifecycle, including managing risks.
[Link] 2/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments
‒ Stakeholders: Stakeholders encompass all organisations and individuals involved in, or affected by, AI
systems, directly or indirectly. AI actors are a subset of stakeholders.

Section 1: Principles for responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI

II. RECOMMENDS that Members and non-Members adhering to this Recommendation (hereafter the “Adherents”)
promote and implement the following principles for responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI, which are relevant to
all stakeholders.

III. CALLS ON all AI actors to promote and implement, according to their respective roles, the following principles
for responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI.

IV. UNDERLINES that the following principles are complementary and should be considered as a whole.

1.1. Inclusive growth, sustainable development and well-being

Stakeholders should proactively engage in responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI in pursuit of beneficial

outcomes for people and the planet, such as augmenting human capabilities and enhancing creativity, advancing
inclusion of underrepresented populations, reducing economic, social, gender and other inequalities, and protecting
natural environments, thus invigorating inclusive growth, well-being, sustainable development and environmental
sustainability.

1.2. Respect for the rule of law, human rights and democratic values, including fairness and privacy

a) AI actors should respect the rule of law, human rights, democratic and human-centred values
throughout the AI system lifecycle. These include non-discrimination and equality, freedom, dignity,
autonomy of individuals, privacy and data protection, diversity, fairness, social justice, and internationally
recognised labour rights. This also includes addressing misinformation and disinformation amplified by AI,
while respecting freedom of expression and other rights and freedoms protected by applicable
international law.

b) To this end, AI actors should implement mechanisms and safeguards, such as capacity for human
agency and oversight, including to address risks arising from uses outside of intended purpose, intentional
misuse, or unintentional misuse in a manner appropriate to the context and consistent with the state of the
art.

1.3. Transparency and explainability

AI Actors should commit to transparency and responsible disclosure regarding AI systems. To this end, they should
provide meaningful information, appropriate to the context, and consistent with the state of art:

i. to foster a general understanding of AI systems, including their capabilities and limitations,

ii. to make stakeholders aware of their interactions with AI systems, including in the workplace,

iii. where feasible and useful, to provide plain and easy-to-understand information on the
sources of data/input, factors, processes and/or logic that led to the prediction, content,
recommendation or decision, to enable those affected by an AI system to understand the output,
and,

iv. to provide information that enable those adversely affected by an AI system to challenge its
output.

1.4. Robustness, security and safety

a) AI systems should be robust, secure and safe throughout their entire lifecycle so that, in conditions of
normal use, foreseeable use or misuse, or other adverse conditions, they function appropriately and do not
pose unreasonable safety and/or security risks.

b) Mechanisms should be in place, as appropriate, to ensure that if AI systems risk causing undue harm
or exhibit undesired behaviour, they can be overridden, repaired, and/or decommissioned safely as
needed.

[Link] 3/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments
c) Mechanisms should also, where technically feasible, be in place to bolster information integrity while
ensuring respect for freedom of expression.

1.5. Accountability

a) AI actors should be accountable for the proper functioning of AI systems and for the respect of the
above principles, based on their roles, the context, and consistent with the state of the art.

b) To this end, AI actors should ensure traceability, including in relation to datasets, processes and
decisions made during the AI system lifecycle, to enable analysis of the AI system’s outputs and responses
to inquiry, appropriate to the context and consistent with the state of the art.

c) AI actors, should, based on their roles, the context, and their ability to act, apply a systematic risk
management approach to each phase of the AI system lifecycle on an ongoing basis and adopt responsible
business conduct to address risks related to AI systems, including, as appropriate, via co-operation
between different AI actors, suppliers of AI knowledge and AI resources, AI system users, and other
stakeholders. Risks include those related to harmful bias, human rights including safety, security, and
privacy, as well as labour and intellectual property rights.

Section 2: National policies and international co-operation for trustworthy AI

V. RECOMMENDS that Adherents implement the following recommendations, consistent with the principles in
section 1, in their national policies and international co-operation, with special attention to small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs).

2.1. Investing in AI research and development

a) Governments should consider long-term public investment, and encourage private investment, in
research and development and open science, including interdisciplinary efforts, to spur innovation in
trustworthy AI that focus on challenging technical issues and on AI-related social, legal and ethical
implications and policy issues.

b) Governments should also consider public investment and encourage private investment in open-
source tools and open datasets that are representative and respect privacy and data protection to support
an environment for AI research and development that is free of harmful bias and to improve interoperability
and use of standards.

2.2. Fostering an inclusive AI-enabling ecosystem

Governments should foster the development of, and access to, an inclusive, dynamic, sustainable, and interoperable
digital ecosystem for trustworthy AI. Such an ecosystem includes inter alia, data, AI technologies, computational and
connectivity infrastructure, and mechanisms for sharing AI knowledge, as appropriate. In this regard, governments
should consider promoting mechanisms, such as data trusts, to support the safe, fair, legal and ethical sharing of
data.

2.3. Shaping an enabling interoperable governance and policy environment for AI

a) Governments should promote an agile policy environment that supports transitioning from the research
and development stage to the deployment and operation stage for trustworthy AI systems. To this effect,
they should consider using experimentation to provide a controlled environment in which AI systems can
be tested, and scaled-up, as appropriate. They should also adopt outcome-based approaches that provide
flexibility in achieving governance objectives and co-operate within and across jurisdictions to promote
interoperable governance and policy environments, as appropriate.

b) Governments should review and adapt, as appropriate, their policy and regulatory frameworks and
assessment mechanisms as they apply to AI systems to encourage innovation and competition for
trustworthy AI.

2.4. Building human capacity and preparing for labour market transformation

[Link] 4/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments
a) Governments should work closely with stakeholders to prepare for the transformation of the world of
work and of society. They should empower people to effectively use and interact with AI systems across
the breadth of applications, including by equipping them with the necessary skills.

b) Governments should take steps, including through social dialogue, to ensure a fair transition for
workers as AI is deployed, such as through training programmes along the working life, support for those
affected by displacement, including through social protection, and access to new opportunities in the
labour market.

c) Governments should also work closely with stakeholders to promote the responsible use of AI at work,
to enhance the safety of workers, the quality of jobs and of public services, to foster entrepreneurship and
productivity, and aim to ensure that the benefits from AI are broadly and fairly shared.

2.5. International co-operation for trustworthy AI

a) Governments, including developing countries and with stakeholders, should actively co-operate to
advance these principles and to progress on responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI.

b) Governments should work together in the OECD and other global and regional fora to foster the
sharing of AI knowledge, as appropriate. They should encourage international, cross-sectoral and open
multi-stakeholder initiatives to garner long-term expertise on AI.

c) Governments should promote the development of multi-stakeholder, consensus-driven global technical

standards for interoperable and trustworthy AI.

d) Governments should also encourage the development, and their own use, of internationally
comparable indicators to measure AI research, development and deployment, and gather the evidence
base to assess progress in the implementation of these principles.

VI. INVITES the Secretary-General and Adherents to disseminate this Recommendation.

VII. INVITES non-Adherents to take due account of, and adhere to, this Recommendation.

VIII. INSTRUCTS the Digital Policy Committee, through its Working Party on AI Governance, to:

a) continue its important work on artificial intelligence building on this Recommendation and taking into
account work in other international fora, and to further develop the measurement framework for evidence-
based AI policies;

b) develop and iterate further practical guidance on the implementation of this Recommendation to meet
evolving developments and new policy priorities;

c) provide a forum for exchanging information on AI policy and activities including experience with the
implementation of this Recommendation, and to foster multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary dialogue to
promote trust in and adoption of AI; and

d) report to Council, in consultation with other relevant committees, on the implementation, dissemination
and continued relevance of this Recommendation no later than five years following its revision and at least
every ten years thereafter.

Background information

The Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) (hereafter the “Recommendation”) – the first intergovernmental
standard on AI – was adopted by the OECD Council meeting at Ministerial level on 22 May 2019 on the proposal of
the Digital Policy Committee (DPC, formerly the Committee on Digital Economy Policy, CDEP). The
Recommendation aims to foster innovation and trust in AI by promoting the responsible stewardship of trustworthy
AI while ensuring respect for human rights and democratic values. In June 2019, at the Osaka Summit, G20 Leaders
welcomed the G20 AI Principles, drawn from the Recommendation.

The Recommendation was revised by the OECD Council on 8 November 2023 to update its definition of an “AI
System”, in order to ensure the Recommendation continues to be technically accurate and reflect technological
[Link] 5/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments
developments, including with respect to generative AI. On the basis of the 2024 Report to Council on its
implementation, dissemination and continued relevance, the Recommendation was revised by the OECD Council
meeting at Ministerial level on 3 May 2024 to reflect technological and policy developments, including with respect
to generative AI, and to further facilitate its implementation.

The OECD’s work on Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a general-purpose technology that has the potential to: improve the welfare and well-
being of people, contribute to positive sustainable global economic activity, increase innovation and productivity, and
help respond to key global challenges. It is deployed in many sectors ranging from production, education, finance
and transport to healthcare and security.

Alongside benefits, AI also raises challenges for our societies and economies, notably regarding economic shifts
and inequalities, competition, transitions in the labour market, and implications for democracy and human rights.

The OECD has undertaken empirical and policy activities on AI in support of the policy debate since 2016, starting
with a Technology Foresight Forum on AI that year, followed by an international conference on AI: Intelligent
Machines, Smart Policies in 2017. The Organisation also conducted analytical and measurement work that provides
an overview of the AI technical landscape, maps economic and social impacts of AI technologies and their
applications, identifies major policy considerations, and describes AI initiatives from governments and other
stakeholders at national and international levels.

This work has demonstrated the need to shape a stable policy environment at the international level to foster trust in
and adoption of AI in society. Against this background, the OECD Council adopted, on the proposal of DPC, a
Recommendation to promote a human-centred approach to trustworthy AI, that fosters research, preserves
economic incentives to innovate, and applies to all stakeholders.

An inclusive and participatory process for developing the Recommendation

The development of the Recommendation was participatory in nature, incorporating input from a broad range of
sources throughout the process. In May 2018, the DPC agreed to form an expert group to scope principles to foster
trust in and adoption of AI, with a view to developing a draft Recommendation in the course of 2019. The informal AI
Group of experts at the OECD was subsequently established, comprising over 50 experts from different disciplines
and different sectors (government, industry, civil society, trade unions, the technical community and academia) - see
[Link] for the full list. Between September 2018 and
February 2019 the group held four meetings. The work benefited from the diligence, engagement and substantive
contributions of the experts participating in the group, as well as from their multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary
backgrounds.

Drawing on the final output document of the informal group, a draft Recommendation was developed in the DPC and
with the consultation of other relevant OECD bodies and approved in a special meeting on 14-15 March 2019. The
OECD Council adopted the Recommendation at its meeting at Ministerial level on 22-23 May 2019.

Scope of the Recommendation

Complementing existing OECD standards already relevant to AI – such as those on privacy and data protection,
digital security risk management, and responsible business conduct – the Recommendation focuses on policy issues
that are specific to AI and strives to set a standard that is implementable and flexible enough to stand the test of
time in a rapidly evolving field. The Recommendation contains five high-level values-based principles and five
recommendations for national policies and international co-operation. It also proposes a common understanding of
key terms, such as “AI system”, “AI system lifecycle”, and “AI actors”, for the purposes of the Recommendation.

More specifically, the Recommendation includes two substantive sections:

1. Principles for responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI: the first section sets out five complementary
principles relevant to all stakeholders: i) inclusive growth, sustainable development and well-being; ii) respect
for the rule of law, human rights and democratic values, including fairness and privacy; iii) transparency and
explainability; iv) robustness, security and safety; and v) accountability. This section further calls on AI actors
to promote and implement these principles according to their roles.
2. National policies and international co-operation for trustworthy AI: consistent with the five
aforementioned principles, the second section provides five recommendations to Members and non-Members

[Link] 6/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments
having adhered to the Recommendation (hereafter the “Adherents”) to implement in their national policies
and international co-operation: i) investing in AI research and development; ii) fostering an inclusive AI-
enabling ecosystem; iii) shaping an enabling interoperable governance and policy environment for AI; iv)
building human capacity and preparing for labour market transformation; and v) international co-operation for
trustworthy AI.

2023 and 2024 Revisions of the Recommendation

In 2023, a window of opportunity was identified to maintain the relevance of the Recommendation by updating its
definition of an “AI System”, and the DPC approved a draft revised definition in a joint session of the Committee and
its Working Party on AI Governance (AIGO) on 16 October 2023. The OECD Council adopted the revised definition
of “AI System” at its meeting on 8 November 2023. The update of the definition included edits aimed at:

clarifying the objectives of an AI system (which may be explicit or implicit);

underscoring the role of input which may be provided by humans or machines;
clarifying that the Recommendation applies to generative AI systems, which produce “content”;
substituting the word “real” with “physical” for clarity and alignment with other international processes;
reflecting the fact that some AI systems can continue to evolve after their design and deployment.

In line with the conclusions of the 2024 Report to Council, the Recommendation was further revised at the 2024
Meeting of the Council at Ministerial level to maintain its continued relevance and facilitate its implementation five
years after its adoption. Specific updates aimed at:

reflecting the growing importance of addressing misinformation and disinformation, and safeguarding
information integrity in the context of generative AI;
addressing uses outside of intended purpose, intentional misuse, or unintentional misuse;
clarifying the information AI actors should provide regarding AI systems to ensure transparency and
responsible disclosure;
addressing safety concerns, so that if AI systems risk causing undue harm or exhibit undesired behaviour,
they can be overridden, repaired, and/or decommissioned safely by human interaction;
emphasising responsible business conduct throughout the AI system lifecycle, involving co-operation with
suppliers of AI knowledge and AI resources, AI system users, and other stakeholders,
underscoring the need for jurisdictions to work together to promote interoperable governance and policy
environments for AI, against the increase in AI policy initiatives worldwide, and
introducing an explicit reference to environmental sustainability, of which the importance has grown
considerably since the adoption of the Recommendation in 2019.

Furthermore, some of the headings of the principles and recommendations were expanded for clarity, and the text
on traceability and risk management was further elaborated and moved to the “Accountability” principle as the most
appropriate principle for these concepts.

For further information please consult: [Link].

Contact information: ai@[Link].

Related document(s)

Artificial Intelligence in Society (2019)

Unofficial translations

Arabic German Japanese Spanish

Committee(s)

[Link] 7/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments

Digital Policy Committee

Date(s)/Reference(s)

Adopted on 22/05/2019 C(2019)34 C/M(2019)10

C/MIN(2019)3/FINAL

Amended on 08/11/2023 C(2023)151 C/M(2023)14

Follow-up report in 2024 C/MIN(2024)17 C/M(2024)5

Amended on 03/05/2024 C/MIN(2024)16/FINAL C/M(2024)5

Related instrument(s)

Related to
OECD/LEGAL/0463 Recommendation of the Council on Enhancing Access to and Sharing of Data

Implementation

The Recommendation instructs the DPC to report to the Council on its implementation, dissemination and continued
relevance five years after its adoption and regularly thereafter.

2024 Report to Council

The DPC, through AIGO, developed a report to the Council on the implementation, dissemination and continued
relevance of the Recommendation five years after its implementation, and proposed draft revisions drawing from its
conclusions.

The 2024 Report concluded that the Recommendation provides a significant and useful international reference in
national AI policymaking. The Recommendation is being implemented by its Adherents, is widely disseminated, and
remains fully relevant, including as a solid framework to analyse technology evolutions such as those related to
generative AI.

However, the 2024 Report found that updates were needed to clarify the substance of some of the
Recommendation’s provisions, facilitate implementation, increase relevance, and ensure the Recommendation
reflects important technological developments, including with respect to generative AI.

Further work to support the implementation of the Recommendation

In addition to reporting to the Council on the implementation of the Recommendation, the DPC is also instructed to
continue its work on AI, building on this Recommendation, and taking into account work in other international fora,
such as UNESCO, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the initiative to build an International Panel on AI
(see [Link] intelligence and
[Link] artificial-intelligence).

In order to support implementation of the Recommendation, the Council instructed the DPC to develop practical
guidance for implementation, to provide a forum for exchanging information on AI policy and activities, and to foster
multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary dialogue.

To provide an inclusive forum for exchanging information on AI policy and activities, and to foster multi-stakeholder
and interdisciplinary dialogue, the OECD launched i) the AI Policy Observatory ([Link]) as well as ii) the informal
OECD Network of Experts on AI (ONE AI) in February 2020.

[Link] 8/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments
[Link] is an inclusive hub for public policy on AI that aims to help countries encourage, nurture and monitor the
responsible development of trustworthy artificial intelligence systems for the benefit of society. It combines
resources from across the OECD with those of partners from all stakeholder groups to provide multidisciplinary,
evidence-based policy analysis on AI. The Observatory includes a live database of AI strategies, policies and
initiatives that countries and other stakeholders can share and update, enabling the comparison of their key
elements in an interactive manner. It is continuously updated with AI metrics, measurements, policies and good
practices that lead to further updates in the practical guidance for implementation.

The [Link] Network of Experts (ONE AI) is an informal group of AI experts from government, business, academia
and civil society that provides AI-specific policy expertise and advice to the OECD. The network provides a space for
the international AI community to have in-depth discussions about shared AI policy opportunities and challenges.

In 2022, in recognition of the growing importance and scope of its work on AI, the DPC created a dedicated Working
Party to the topic – the Working Party on AI Governance (AIGO). The Working Party supports the implementation of
the OECD Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence, develops practical guidance for implementation, provides a
forum and online hub for exchanging information on AI policy and activities through the [Link] Policy
Observatory, and foster multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary dialogue through the Expert Groups of the [Link]
Network of Experts.

Adherents

OECD Members

Australia Austria Belgium Canada

Chile Colombia * Costa Rica * Czech Republic

Denmark Estonia Finland France

Germany Greece Hungary Iceland

Ireland Israel Italy Japan

Korea Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg

Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway

Poland Portugal Slovak Republic Slovenia

Spain Sweden Switzerland Republic of Türkiye

United Kingdom United States

Non-Members

[Link] 9/10
19/09/2025, 14:30 OECD Legal Instruments

Argentina - Brazil - 22/05/2019 Egypt - 31/03/2021 Malta - 20/12/2019

22/05/2019

Peru - 22/05/2019 Romania - Saudi Arabia - Singapore -

22/05/2019 05/06/2025 31/03/2021

Ukraine - Uruguay -
30/10/2019 01/10/2024

Other

European Union (EU) - 03/05/2024

[Link] 10/10