Binding law
What binds a robot maker or deployer?
12 records of kind binding law are on the Physical AI Governance Atlas as of September 2026: 10 verified, 0 reported, 0 announced, 2 absent, 0 open. By jurisdiction: European Union 6, United States 1, Japan 1, South Korea 2, United Kingdom 2.
Binding law
12 records, newest first
South Korea's AI framework law never says robot, and its safety duty is triggered by compute
South Korea · verified 16 September 2026
Addenda Article 1: the Act enters into force one year after promulgation, with the digital medical device part of the high impact definition from 24 January 2026.
South Korea has had a robot statute since 2008, and its robot certification articles were deleted in 2016
South Korea · verified 16 September 2026
The National Law Information Center shows the Act in force from 1 October 2025 as Act No. 21065, amended through another statute.
Japan wrote robot rules into occupational safety law in the 1980s, and they still govern every industrial robot there
Japan · verified 15 September 2026
Article 150-3 requires written procedures for teaching work inside the operating range, a way for the worker or a watcher to stop the robot immediately, and a sign preventing others from using the start switch.
Britain's one physical AI statute is about vehicles, and it makes an entity, not a driver, answer for the machine
United Kingdom · verified 15 September 2026
Section 1(5): a vehicle travels autonomously if it is controlled not by an individual but by equipment of the vehicle, and neither the vehicle nor its surroundings are being monitored by an individual with a view to immediate intervention.
Britain has no Act with robot in its title, and the search that proves it is one line long
United Kingdom · verified 15 September 2026
legislation.gov.uk answers the title search for robot with: your title search for robot in the English language of legislation has returned no results.
No United States federal statute governs robots as such, and the agencies say so in their own words
United States · verified 15 September 2026
OSHA's own manual points inspectors at private standards and at 29 CFR 1910.212, the general requirements for all machines.
EU product safety law already names learning and predictive functions as a safety factor for consumer robots
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Article 6(1)(h): when required by the nature of the product, the evolving, learning and predictive functionalities of the product are a factor in assessing safety.
The EU withdrew its AI Liability Directive, so there is no AI specific fault regime for a robot that harms someone
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Official Journal C/2025/5423 of 6 October 2025 lists COM(2022)496 final, procedure 2022/0303 (COD), among the withdrawn Commission proposals.
The revised EU product liability rules make software a product and reach a robot that changes after it is sold
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Article 4(1): product means all movables, even if integrated into or inter connected with another movable or an immovable, and it includes electricity, digital manufacturing files, raw materials and software.
A robot that talks to people owes an AI Act disclosure, and a robot that reads emotions owes another
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Article 50(1) puts the duty on the provider to design the system so the person is informed, unless it is obvious to a reasonably well informed and observant person.
The Digital Omnibus took AI enabled machinery out of the AI Act high risk lane and handed it to the Machinery Regulation
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Omnibus Article 1 point 41: in Annex I, Section A, point 1 is deleted, and Section B gains point 21, Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on machinery.
The EU Machinery Regulation applies from 14 January 2027 and puts self evolving safety functions in the third party lane
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Article 54: the Regulation shall apply from 14 January 2027, with earlier dates for the notified body and delegated act provisions.
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Last updated . Every record re verified . The ledger is checked monthly, first Monday, and the same day for any new law or standard publication.
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