Hon Dr Shane Reti on behalf of the New Zealand Government released the first national strategy for Artificial Intelligence (the AI Strategy) on 8 July 2025. 

New Zealand has, until now, lagged other small, advanced economies on developing and releasing a strategy. For example, Singapore’s first AI strategy was released in 2019, its version 2.0 released in 2023.  Until now New Zealand has been the only OECD country without a formal AI strategy.

The release of the AI Strategy signals the Government’s commitment: 

• to international partners, that New Zealand is open for business for AI adoption and application (rather than foundational model) development; and 

• to New Zealanders, that “the time has come for New Zealand to get moving on AI” and that it is not only ok to do so, but that we should take advantage of all that it offers. 

We have seen signalling like this before from the Government which led to a sea-change in New Zealand’s adoption of other emerging technology. In 2012, the Government released its “cloud-first” policy (refreshed in 2023) which moved New Zealand’s business community from a largely cloud-tentative position to a global leader in cloud adoption – particularly in the SME community. The expectation from this Government and the hope from the technology industry, no doubt, is that this AI Strategy has the same result.  

The co-release of the new Responsible AI Guidance for Businesses (the Guidance) intends to help businesses adopt AI responsibly and effectively. The Guidance encourages organisations to define their purpose for using AI, engage with stakeholders and test the products safely, and align AI objectives with internal policies. The Guidance also recommends building strong governance structures and ensuring compliance with existing regulations, amongst other useful information. 

This strategy outlines the Government’s “commitment to creating an environment where New Zealand businesses can adopt and innovate with AI technologies with confidence.

The AI Strategy recognises New Zealand’s limitations in terms of capital (human and financial) and scale. It also recognises New Zealand’s strengths – that we can move quickly, focus on opportunities, and leverage our stable, forward-thinking regulatory environment for AI development and testing, backed by strong governance and a commitment to responsible innovation. Combined with the recently established Invest New Zealand (a Crown entity intended to be a one-stop shop for attracting foreign investment into New Zealand), the Government is pegging its strategy on this being sufficiently appealing to grow the innovators, capital and talent. 

Is it enough?

With no specific timelines, milestones or measurable standards of success, the AI Strategy appears to provide overall encouragement of AI usage, rather than clear guidelines for “practical adoption”. Again, comparing the AI Strategy with Singapore’s version 2.0, ours appears to lack details as to how the Government will inspire uptake and attract talent, capital and technology innovators to New Zealand.  

Perhaps our version 2.0 will address those very points, and the hope is that it will be done so in short order. 

In the meantime, the key points from the AI Strategy are:

• New Zealand is prioritising adoption, not foundation model development: Unsurprisingly, New Zealand is not signalling a late run to compete with Google, OpenAI, Meta and others (Foundation Modellers) on foundation model development. It is signalling to the Foundation Modellers that setting up in New Zealand will be welcomed and will likely be met with high percentages of adoption across the business sector.

• New Zealand does not intend to enact new laws: Adoption and development of any emerging technology can be slow, if there is uncertainty about what regulatory approach a Government might take. The AI Strategy helpfully confirms that New Zealand is taking a “light touch” and “principles-based” approach to AI policy, relying on existing regulatory frameworks such as privacy, consumer protection and human rights which are largely principles-based and technology-neutral, and which can be updated if needed to enable AI innovation.  

• New Zealand needs to address the skills gap: The AI Strategy recognises that New Zealand faces a shortage of AI expertise. New Zealand universities are helping to bridge the gap by building a “future-ready” workforce through specialised programmes, and notes the Government’s investment in tuition, STEM, and youth support to boost enrolment and career pathways, along with existing private sector investment by AI vendors. However, unlike other advanced economies, no new spend focused on AI alone has been announced. 

Where to from here?

Private sector businesses have the green light to realise productivity benefits using AI and the Government is actively investigating use of AI in the public sector to both validate its usefulness and lead by example. 

We hope and trust that version 2.0 of the AI Strategy is under development with more detail on how to entice AI companies to invest in New Zealand, encourage AI talent to come and for capital to flow. In the meantime, businesses can and should take steps to adopt AI technologies, safely and ethically, to harness their power. In doing so, businesses should:

1. Clarify your AI purpose: What do you want AI to achieve in your organisation? Ensure the intended use is lawful and aligned with your business goals.

2. Prepare for adoption: Identify current processes that are inefficient, and those that could benefit from AI. Engage with stakeholders for input, and test solutions in controlled environments.

3. Build internal capability: Set up a dedicated team to identify your business’ AI objectives and values, develop internal principles to guide the responsible and ethical use of AI, and develop consistent principles and terminology across the business.

4. Establish governance frameworks: Form a governance team to oversee risk, compliance, and regulatory alignment, and maintain transparent communication with stakeholders to build trust.

5. Ensure data quality and ethical use: Use clean, unbiased data in any AI system, and avoid deploying AI in areas where human judgement is critical to protect individuals’ rights and wellbeing.

6. Keep existing laws front of mind: Ensure laser-focus on, amongst other legislation, the Privacy Act 2020 implications. 

Our dedicated team of technology law specialists are actively assisting companies with their AI journey – from boards and CEOs grappling with governance frameworks of AI technology, Privacy Officers with their obligations under the Privacy Act, Chief Risk Officers with their analysis and management of risks, General Counsel with their policy development management, and legal operating model designs, HR managers with the potential impact on workforces, CIOs with their data protection strategies, and CTOs with their procurement and transformation journeys. If you need assistance with any stage of your AI journey, do not hesitate to get in touch with any of our experts. 

This article was co-authored by Grace Chen, an intern in our Technology team.