Indonesia Joins China-Initiated AI Body as Its Own Rulebook Takes Shape
Jakarta has become one of 29 founding members of WAICO while two presidential regulations on AI ethics and a national roadmap await approval.
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Indonesia has joined a China-initiated international organisation seeking to shape co-operation and governance around artificial intelligence, giving Jakarta a founding seat in a new global forum as it works to complete its own domestic rulebook. The move puts Southeast Asia’s largest economy inside an emerging multilateral institution before its proposed national AI regulations have formally taken effect.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto signed the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Co-operation Organisation, or WAICO, in Shanghai on July 16. Indonesia was among 29 countries that signed as founding members, Antara reported.
Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Angga Raka Prabowo said Indonesia’s participation would support efforts to align national AI governance with international practices and expand co-operation in developing responsible and inclusive systems. He accompanied Airlangga Hartarto at the signing ceremony.
WAICO will be an independent intergovernmental organisation headquartered in Shanghai. Its founding agreement says it will promote international co-operation and governance to ensure that AI is beneficial, safe and fair.
United Nations’ Secretary-General António Guterres also attended the signing, but WAICO is not a UN body. Its agreement says the organisation will uphold the purposes of the UN Charter, rather than operate as part of the UN system.
China first proposed the organisation at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July 2025. Its creation adds another institution to an increasingly fragmented global debate over how AI should be governed, who should set common standards and whether developing economies will have sufficient influence over rules largely being shaped by the world’s biggest technology markets.
For Indonesia, the membership comes at a consequential point in its domestic regulatory process.
The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs completed interministerial discussions in May on two draft presidential regulations. One covers AI ethics, while the other sets out a national AI roadmap for 2026 to 2029. The drafts were due to be submitted to the president after ministries agreed on their substance.
The proposed regulations have been under development since 2025 and have gone through public consultations, stakeholder discussions and a formal harmonisation process completed in March. The government says they are intended to provide a stronger legal and policy foundation for an AI ecosystem that is ethical, secure and accountable.
Indonesia’s existing framework centres on a ministerial circular issued in December 2023. It applies to businesses involved in AI programming and to public and private electronic system operators, setting out principles covering inclusivity, security, transparency, accountability, personal data protection, sustainability and intellectual property.
The circular also calls on companies and system operators to develop internal policies governing data and AI ethics, assess risks and prevent AI from being used as the sole determinant in decisions involving human welfare.
WAICO membership does not immediately change the compliance requirements facing companies operating in Indonesia. Those obligations will depend more directly on the final form of the two presidential regulations and how the government translates their principles into sector-specific rules, supervision and enforcement.
However, the international organisation could provide Indonesia access to discussions on technical standards, capacity building and co-operation at a time when countries are seeking to balance AI investment with concerns over data protection, safety and accountability.
Its practical influence remains uncertain at this point. The founding announcement set out broad objectives but did not detail how WAICO will make decisions, finance its operations or convert its principles into standards that member countries are expected to follow.
Indonesia’s decision, therefore, gives it an early place in the institution without resolving the more immediate question confronting businesses at home. That will depend on how quickly Jakarta completes its national regulations and how clearly those rules define responsibility for companies developing, deploying or relying on AI systems.
With inputs from Antara and Reuters
Indonesia has joined a China-initiated international organisation seeking to shape co-operation and governance around artificial intelligence, giving Jakarta a founding seat in a new global forum as it works to complete its own domestic rulebook. The move puts Southeast Asia’s largest economy inside an emerging multilateral institution before its proposed national AI regulations have formally taken effect.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto signed the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Co-operation Organisation, or WAICO, in Shanghai on July 16. Indonesia was among 29 countries that signed as founding members, Antara reported.
Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Angga Raka Prabowo said Indonesia’s participation would support efforts to align national AI governance with international practices and expand co-operation in developing responsible and inclusive systems. He accompanied Airlangga Hartarto at the signing ceremony.
