ASEAN launches AI Safety Network to coordinate regional standards and risk management

ASEAN member states have formally adopted a declaration creating the ASEAN AI Safety Network (ASEAN AI SAFE), a new regional mechanism intended to strengthen cooperation, capacity-building and governance on AI safety across Southeast Asia. The decision was endorsed on 26 October 2025 during the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, marking one of the region’s most significant steps toward coordinated AI oversight.

The declaration places AI safety at the centre of ASEAN’s digital transformation agenda. Governments acknowledge both the opportunities AI offers for economic resilience and inclusive growth, and the risks associated with issues such as misinformation, fraud, cross-border harms and uneven technical capacity across member states. The new network is designed to support existing ASEAN bodies, notably the ASEAN Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting and the Working Group on AI Governance, by consolidating expertise, guiding policy development, promoting best practices and enabling collaboration with academia, civil society, industry and external partners.

ASEAN AI SAFE will operate on a voluntary and non-binding basis, respecting national sovereignty while encouraging alignment with regional principles and international standards. Its functions include sharing knowledge, coordinating research, fostering interdisciplinary cooperation, and supporting the development of national and regional safeguards for safe and trustworthy AI deployment. Ministers are tasked with defining the network’s operational framework and sustainable funding model, while Malaysia, as lead proponent, will coordinate the next steps and report back with a formal proposal for endorsement at the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting.

The new mechanism reflects ASEAN’s ambition to enhance its role in global AI governance spaces and to ensure that emerging technologies are deployed in ways that are transparent, accountable and aligned with regional values. The declaration underscores that strengthening AI safety is essential for protecting citizens’ rights, building public trust and maintaining ASEAN’s competitiveness in the digital economy.

Why does it matter for civil society?

The ASEAN Declaration on the Establishment of an ASEAN AI Safety Network (ASEAN AI SAFE) makes several explicit references to civil society and defines a clear role for it within the region’s emerging AI-governance framework.

First, the declaration recognises that ASEAN’s AI-safety landscape operates within ‘a diverse stakeholder environment that requires enhanced coordination among government, industry, academia, civil society, and communities’. This is presented as a structural reality that shapes how AI risks and capacities differ across member states.

Second, civil society is formally included as a partner in ASEAN AI SAFE’s governance. The declaration states that collaboration should include ‘ASEAN Sectoral Bodies, ASEAN Dialogue and Development Partners, civil society, academia and industry stakeholders’. This positions civil-society organisations (CSOs) as recognised actors in shaping AI-safety cooperation, alongside governments and industry.

Third, it encourages multistakeholder participation across AI-safety discussions, explicitly naming civil society as part of this expanded participation mandate. This establishes that CSOs are not peripheral observers but intended contributors to policy dialogue and implementation.

Overall, the declaration presents civil society as an integral component of the network’s multi-stakeholder design. It acknowledges CSOs as part of the regional AI ecosystem, highlights their role in cross-border coordination, and includes them in the operational framework of ASEAN AI SAFE.