Global AI law

PDPL in force; AI governed by SDAIA principles

AI Laws in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia governs AI through its data authority, SDAIA (the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority), rather than a dedicated AI Act. The binding instrument is the Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree M/19 of 2021, amended 2023), which became fully enforceable on 14 September 2024 and carries fines up to SAR 5 million plus criminal liability for misuse of sensitive data. On top of it, SDAIA has issued non-binding AI Ethics Principles (2023) and Generative AI Guidelines (2024) covering fairness, transparency, accountability and human oversight, all aligned with the National Strategy for Data & AI and Vision 2030's goal of becoming a top-tier AI economy. Companies deploying AI must comply with the PDPL and are expected to follow SDAIA's guidelines.

By AI Law Tracker Editorial Team · Editorial Team

Published Jun 18, 2026Reviewed Jun 18, 2026

Map showing the location of Saudi Arabia in the world — Saudi Arabia on the world map

Applicable laws

📜 Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) — Royal Decree M/19 of 2021, amended 2023

📜 SDAIA AI Ethics Principles (2023)

📜 SDAIA Generative AI Guidelines (2024)

📜 National Strategy for Data & AI (NSDAI) / Vision 2030

Penalty: PDPL: fines up to SAR 5M (doubling for repeat offences) and up to 2 years' imprisonment for unlawful sensitive-data disclosure

Live · laws.boe.gov.sa (Bureau of Experts register)

Live legislative tracker

Updated August 31, 2026

AI and digital-regulation bills in motion and instruments in force in Saudi Arabia, pulled automatically from the official legislature feed.

نظام حماية البيانات الشخصيةLaw

Published in the register of the Bureau of Experts·Updated September 16, 2021→

نظام البيانات التجاريةLaw

Published in the register of the Bureau of Experts·Updated March 15, 2002→

Voluntary · not law

Guidance & voluntary frameworks (1)

Saudi Arabia has no binding AI-specific legislation in force that we track. That does not mean AI is ungoverned there. The official frameworks below are in effect and set out what regulators expect — and general law (data protection, consumer protection, sectoral and anti-discrimination rules) still applies to AI systems in the ordinary way. None of these is legislation and none creates a legal obligation by itself, so they are counted separately from binding law — never added to it. See our scope definition.

sa-sdaia-ai-ethics-principles-2023VoluntaryNational Principles

AI Ethics Principles, Version 1.0

· Published·Published September 1, 2023→

● Live

Recent AI law developments in Saudi Arabia

Updated August 30, 2026

Recent news coverage of AI regulation and policy in Saudi Arabia. Headlines are aggregated automatically; follow each link for the full story.

jurvetson · CC BY 2.0 · via flickr

Musk and Tech Titans Converge on G20 Tech Summit as U.S. Seeks Consensus on AI "Light-Touch Regulation" Principles

Coverage from finance.biggo.com on AI legislation and regulation relevant to Saudi Arabia.

finance.biggo.com·August 27, 2026→

World Economic Forum · CC BY 3.0 · via wikimedia

Alphabet’s AI Bill Tops $200B, Tesla Profit Craters: Nasdaq Falls Most Since April

Coverage from Tech Times on AI legislation and regulation relevant to Saudi Arabia.

Tech Times·July 24, 2026→

High-risk industries to watch in Saudi Arabia

US-based? Check your state laws too

If you're a US company serving Saudi Arabia customers, you need to comply with both your state's AI laws and Saudi Arabia regulation.

US AI laws hub →All 51 US jurisdictions →EU AI Act →Check my state →

Editorial standards

Anchored to the primary government source (statute, bill text, or agency rule) and verified directly against it · Last verified Jun 18, 2026. See our methodology.

Primary sources · Saudi Arabia

↗sdaia.gov.sahttps://sdaia.gov.sa/en/SDAIA/about/Pages/PersonalDataProtection.aspx
↗sdaia.gov.sahttps://sdaia.gov.sa/en/SDAIA/about/Pages/AIEthics.aspx
↗my.gov.sahttps://www.my.gov.sa/wps/portal/snp/aboutksa/nationalStrategyForData