Everything you need to know about Law No. 134/2025/QH15 in plain language. No legalese, no jargon left unexplained.
On March 1, 2026, Vietnam became one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to enforce a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence. Officially called Law No. 134/2025/QH15, it covers everything from chatbots and recommendation engines to medical diagnosis AI and autonomous vehicles.
The law was passed by the National Assembly and applies to any organization or individual that develops, provides, deploys, or uses AI systems within Vietnam - or AI systems that affect Vietnamese citizens.
Think of it like traffic regulations for AI. Just as different vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks) have different rules and license requirements, different AI systems have different compliance requirements based on how much risk they pose.
The law classifies every AI system into one of three risk levels. The higher the risk, the more rules you need to follow. There is also a separate category for practices that are completely banned.
AI systems used in healthcare, finance, education, transport, recruitment, justice, or energy. These require conformity assessment, registration, human oversight, and incident reporting.
AI systems with moderate impact that do not qualify as high-risk. These need transparency measures, documentation, and self-classification but have lighter assessment requirements.
AI systems with limited impact and minimal risk. These still need basic transparency (users should know they are interacting with AI) but have the lightest compliance burden.
Prohibited practices: Some AI uses are completely banned in Vietnam. These include social credit scoring of citizens, subliminal manipulation techniques, exploitation of vulnerable groups, and certain types of real-time biometric surveillance.
The law defines 5 different roles. You might fill more than one role depending on your relationship with the AI system.
Creates the AI model or system. Responsible for technical documentation, safety testing, and making the system classifiable.
Makes the AI system available in Vietnam (sells it, licenses it, distributes it). Responsible for self-classification, conformity assessment, and portal registration.
Uses the AI system in their operations (e.g., a hospital using a diagnostic AI). Has strict liability obligations for high-risk systems under Article 29.
The person who interacts with the AI system. Has the right to know when they are interacting with AI and to understand how decisions affecting them are made.
Anyone impacted by an AI system's decisions, even if they did not directly interact with it. Has rights to explanation, appeal, and remedy.
The law is already in effect, but grace periods give organizations time to get compliant.
The law is officially in force. Prohibited practices are banned immediately. New AI systems must begin compliance processes.
Vietnam's AI regulatory sandbox becomes available for organizations wanting to test innovative AI systems under supervised conditions.
12-month grace period ends. All existing AI systems must be classified, registered, and compliant with their risk tier obligations.
18-month grace period ends for healthcare, education, and finance sectors. Full compliance required for all AI systems in these critical sectors.
If your organization uses AI systems in Vietnam, here is where to start:
List every AI system your organization develops, provides, or deploys. Include chatbots, recommendation engines, automated decision systems, and anything that uses machine learning.
For each system, identify whether you are a developer, provider, deployer, or multiple roles. Each role has different obligations.
Assess each system against the 3 risk tiers. Check whether any systems fall into the 7 high-risk sectors or trigger prohibited practice flags.
Based on the risk tier and your role, identify which obligations apply. Begin documenting compliance measures and preparing for conformity assessment.
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