Ruth Dea Juwita, Jakarta – The government has pushed back the launch of Indonesia's long-awaited artificial intelligence regulation to early 2026, missing its initial target for this year, as calls mount to expedite the roadmap for the rapidly evolving technology.
Key debates over the regulation include which issues to prioritize and how government institutions should translate broad policy directions into concrete implementing regulations within their respective mandates.
The roadmap, to be issued through a presidential regulation, will be Indonesia's first comprehensive AI framework since the government released a smaller ethics guideline in 2023.
"Insya Allah [God willing], the presidential regulation on the AI roadmap will be issued in early 2026 and serve as guidance for all of us," Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said on Thursday, as quoted by Kumparan.
The draft, completed in August, has been submitted to the State Secretariat Office and is currently under review by the Law Ministry for regulatory alignment, Meutya added.
The ministry had initially planned to release the AI roadmap by mid-2025 before later pushing the deadline to October. The document has yet to be made public.
Meutya said one of the key debates during the drafting process was deciding which aspects of AI to regulate first. The government ultimately chose to prioritize ethics, safety and security as the foundation for future rules.
After the roadmap is published, ministries and agencies will be required to draft their own AI guidelines, as detailed enforcement will fall under sector-specific regulations, she noted.
In the meantime, the minister cautioned government institutions against deploying AI before their internal rules are established.
"We do not recommend using AI before such regulations are issued," Meutya said.
Calls have intensified in recent months for the government to fast-track the regulation amid concerns over potential rights violations stemming from AI use. However, the upcoming presidential regulation will not include penalties, as only laws can impose legal sanctions.
"Penalties for AI misuse can only refer to existing laws such as the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Law," said Heru Sutadi, executive director of the Indonesian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Institute, to The Jakarta Post on Monday.
"Ideally, Indonesia should have its own dedicated AI law," he added.
Heru warned that the absence of implementing regulations under the PDP Law could delay AI oversight and enforcement, especially if the AI regulation is issued before the PDP Law's derivative rules are finalized.
The PDP Law, enacted in 2022, has yet to be fully implemented due to delays in issuing its implementing regulations and in establishing the supervisory body mandated under the law.
Adopting AI could add up to US$140 billion to Indonesia's GDP by 2030, boosting annual growth to as much as 6.8 percent and accelerating the country's path to high-income status by 2041, or even 2038 under a best-case scenario, according to Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison's Empowering Indonesia 2025 report on the nation's AI potential.
The report, produced in partnership with Singapore-based tech advisory firm Twimbit, estimates that Southeast Asia's largest economy will need about $3.2 billion in investment by 2030 to meet national computing needs and another $968 million to train 400,000 digital talents.
"We have to use AI for growth [...] and real-life problem solving. Having an ambitious target is good. That is why we need collective effort to accelerate progress," Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison CEO Vikram Sinha said on Monday.
Twimbit CEO Manoj Menon also urged Indonesians to adopt "higher ambitions" in learning how to use AI to solve productive challenges, calling for greater investment in AI education beyond major cities to prevent a talent gap.
"AI makes things easier. But the key is quality education, not just quick courses," he said, adding that the technology could "level the playing field" by enabling local engineers to compete globally.
"AI touches every part of the economy, from data centers and energy to productivity, mining and manufacturing."
Indonesia aims to harness AI to drive national development and achieve its Golden Indonesia 2045 vision of becoming a high-income nation, while pursuing President Prabowo Subianto's goal of 8 percent GDP growth by the end of his term in 2029.
A white paper seen by the Post lists eight "quick win" AI projects for the next five years, including tools to monitor the flagship free nutritious meal program, forecast crop yields to support the food self-sufficiency agenda and track financial reports within the Red-White cooperative initiative.
Authorities overseeing AI policy have also proposed the creation of a "sovereign AI fund" to finance strategic projects leveraging the technology, to be managed primarily by the state asset fund Danantara.
While the paper does not specify the amount required, it outlines a 2027-2029 timeline for establishing the fund and proposes a public-private financing model to drive the country's AI development. It also recommends expanding fiscal incentives for domestic AI investors.
Source: https://asianews.network/ai-rules-pushed-to-2026-as-indonesian-government-charts-next-move