The global conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) regulation often gets framed as a “race” between regions. The EU, US, China, UK, and emerging economies are each drafting rulebooks. Analysts, like Reiner Petzold, describe this moment as a fragmented global competition where every government is running but no one is playing the same sport.
Yet from a legal-tech perspective, the framing of AI policy as a “race” is both incomplete and misleading. It is not only about speed of innovation versus caution of regulation. It is about law, justice, rights, and enforceability. Policies are only as strong as the courts that uphold them, and businesses cannot treat compliance as an optional box-tick.
This article expands the debate: not just who is “winning” AI policy on paper, but whether the world’s legal systems are equipped to govern AI in practice.