FROM COMPLIANCE TO STATE CAPACITY: AI REGULATION IN THE EU AND UAE
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence challenge the capacity of legal systems to regulate emerging technologies without undermining innovation. This paper examines two contrasting regulatory paradigms in public and private law: the compliance-oriented model of the European Union and the governance-driven approach of the United Arab Emirates. The EU framework is characterized by ex ante risk classification, horizontal regulation, and strong rights-based safeguards, aiming to mitigate systemic risks but often increasing regulatory friction, while the Emirati model relies on centralized coordination, regulatory sandboxes, and adaptive legal instruments that integrate artificial intelligence into state capacity and economic policy. The paper proceeds from the hypothesis that the design of regulation influences the pace of innovation, the level of legal certainty, and the extent to which artificial intelligence becomes a tool of public authority and private economic growth, arguing that AI regulation is no longer merely a question of legal restraint but of strategic governance. The research is conducted using a comparative method, a normative-dogmatic method, and a content analysis method.
Keywords: artificial intelligence regulation, public law, private law, EU, UAE.
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