From artificial intelligence governance to youth online safety rules, the global approach to technology oversight is gaining momentum. Industry experts and analysts said 2026 will likely mark a clear shift from abstract tech regulation to mix of operational accountability and self-regulation.
Here are five tech regulation trends investors should track next year.
AI Governance Adds Complexity
After years of voluntary frameworks, AI oversight is becoming enforceable law. Europe has led the way with comprehensive AI rules, while China continues to impose algorithm registration and content controls. The U.S. and other regions are relying on existing consumer protection, antitrust, and civil rights laws to govern AI use. President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month, issuing a single regulation framework for AI and undermining the power of individual states.
Why it matters: Companies deploying AI in high-risk areas such as hiring, lending, healthcare, and surveillance face rising compliance and liability risks. Large technology firms with scale and legal resources may benefit, while smaller AI startups could struggle.
“I expect that U.S. states will continue to enact AI regulations in absence of additional rule-making at the US federal level, which will create added complexity for firms,” said Robert Cruz, VP of Regulatory and Information Governance at software firm Smarsh.
Beyond how AI systems behave, scrutiny is shifting toward what data models are trained on and whether companies can prove they had the right to use it. Nirav Murthy, co-founder and co-CEO of Camp Network, said the next phase of AI governance will focus less on model safety and more on documentation and enforceability.
“In 2026, the biggest pressure point in AI won’t be a debate about model safety,” Murthy said. “It’ll be about rights and receipts—what you trained on, whether you had permission, and whether you can prove it.”
The regulatory shift has implications for large AI deployers and platforms such as Microsoft Full story available on Benzinga.com
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