AI in Laos

Laos

Verified September 29, 2026

Strategy

Draft National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence 2026-2035Draft, 2026

AI law

None

Guidance

None

Lead agency

Ministry of Technology and Communications (MTC; Lao: ກະຊວງເຕັກໂນໂລຊີ ແລະ ການສື່ສານ)

Data law

Law on Electronic Data Protection No. 25/NA (Lao: ກົດໝາຍວ່າດ້ວຍການປົກປ້ອງຂໍ້ມູນເອເລັກໂຕຣນິກ)Enacted, May 12, 2017

Sector rules

• ICT-AI Competency Standards for Teachers2025Competency benchmarks (December 2025) for teachers' use of ICT and AI, tied to the National STI Strategy 2026-2040 and National Teacher Policy launched 2026-06-05; guidance for the education sector, not a binding rule.

Latest

At its September monthly meeting (2026-09-22/23) the cabinet, chaired by PM Sonexay Siphandone, agreed in principle to the draft National AI Strategy 2026-2035 and a satellite strategy, and sent both back to MTC for revision to stress infrastructure, databases, personnel and clear AI priority areas.September 23, 2026

Posture: Laos is at the pre-strategy stage. There is no AI law, no government-issued AI ethics framework and no sector AI rules; the only AI instrument with any status is a draft ten-year National AI Strategy (2026-2035) that the cabinet approved in principle on 2026-09-23 and returned to MTC for revision, so it is not yet adopted and its text is not public. Name variants: MTC was the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT) until 2021 and its website still carries MPT branding; the Brookings profile calls it MOTC. The digital roadmap is one bundled document (Vision 2021-2040, Strategy 2021-2030, Plan 2021-2025) dated December 2021 and posted 2023-01-16 on mtc.gov.la; the government said in January 2026 it is finalising a National Digital Transformation Plan 2026-2030 for the National Assembly, which is separate from the AI strategy. The data protection law is a 2017 statute limited to electronic data; the in-force date is quoted by law firms as 2017-05-12 (the adoption date) but Lao laws take effect on presidential promulgation, so treat the exact date as unconfirmed; a Law on Cybersecurity was before the National Assembly in June 2025 (KPL id 92111) and its final status was not confirmed. UNESCO wording ('sets course for National AI Strategy', January 2026) has been misread by some outlets as a launch of the strategy itself; what was launched was the RAM report. The July 2025 Prime Minister's order on digital ID integration and the 2023 presidential decree creating the National Digital Transformation Committee are digital-government measures with no AI provisions. The LaoAI assistant (April 2026) is a government product, not a policy. Web search budget was exhausted mid-audit, so trackers (OECD.AI, IAPP, Digital Policy Alert) were not directly checked; ISEAS 2026 and Brookings 2025 served as the tracker layer, and both list Laos among the ASEAN members with no AI strategy or AI-specific law.