Methodology and sources
What we track, how each record is checked, and where every number comes from.
What counts as a record
A record is an official instrument that governs how AI is built, sold or used: a law, regulation, executive order, regulator guideline, binding standard, national strategy, pending bill or court ruling. Each record carries its status, key dates, issuing body, the obligations it creates and a link to the official document.
How records are checked
- Every record is checked against a primary source: a gazette, ministry, regulator, legislature or court page. Law-firm or news pages are used only as a secondary link.
- Each record shows the date it was last checked. Records where a detail could not be confirmed from a primary source are marked "Partly confirmed".
- New documents are found by daily crawlers (US Federal Register, CAC bulletins, FDA list and others), drafted automatically, and published only after human review.
How we classify approaches
- Comprehensive AI law. A horizontal, risk-based AI law is adopted or in force.
- Registry-led binding rules. Binding rules built on mandatory filing or registration of AI services.
- AI framework law. An AI basic or promotion act with light, mostly procedural obligations.
- Targeted binding rules. Binding rules for specific uses such as deepfakes, chatbots or hiring.
- Patchwork. Rules are fragmented, mostly at state or sector level.
- Sector regulators and guidelines. No AI law; regulators apply existing law and issue AI guidance.
- Voluntary principles. Strategies, principles and codes only.
EU member states inherit the EU AI Act. Where a member state has its own AI law or authority designation, it has its own page.
Registries
- China CAC. Parsed from every CAC bulletin and attachment since 2024 (filings from 2023 appear in the first attachment). Record counts match CAC's published totals. English names are added only where a reliable translation exists. No CAC bulletin exists for 2023. Filings from 2023 (first batch dated 2023-08-31) appear only in the first attachment (posted with the 2024-04-02 hub page), which carries a 备案时间 (filing date) per row; that date is kept in records[].filed_date. 61 rows carry 2023 filing dates, while the 2025-01-08 text implies 64 filed by end-2023 (302 total minus 238 new in 2024).
- US FDA. The FDA's AI-Enabled Medical Devices list (public domain), with each applicant's country taken from openFDA 510(k) and PMA records. 99.9% of devices are matched to a country.
Adoption and capacity indicators
- Working-age population using generative AI (Q1 2026): Microsoft AI Economy Institute — Global AI Diffusion Q1 2026 Trends and Insights (May 2026). Microsoft report; cite Misra et al. 2025 (arXiv:2511.02781) and the report. No open licence stated.
- Share of global Claude.ai usage (May 2026): Anthropic Economic Index — release 2026-06-26 (aei_claude_ai_2026-06-26.csv, metric usage_pct, category overall). CC-BY (Anthropic)
- Anthropic AI Usage Index (Claude.ai usage per working-age capita) (May 2026): Anthropic Economic Index — release 2026-06-26 (metric usage_per_capita_index, category overall). CC-BY (Anthropic)
- Notable AI models released, by country of developing organisation (2024): Epoch AI — Notable AI Models dataset (notable_ai_models.csv). CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch AI)
- Notable AI models released, by country of developing organisation (2025): Epoch AI — Notable AI Models dataset (notable_ai_models.csv). CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch AI)
- Notable AI models released, by country of developing organisation (2026 to date (Jan 1 - Sep 30, 2026)): Epoch AI — Notable AI Models dataset (notable_ai_models.csv). CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch AI)
- Operational IT power of tracked large AI data centres (current as of 2026-10-02): Epoch AI — AI Data Centers dataset (data_centers.csv, 'Current power (MW)'). CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch AI)
- Operational AI compute in tracked large AI data centres (current as of 2026-10-02): Epoch AI — AI Data Centers dataset (data_centers.csv, 'Current H100 equivalents'). CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch AI)
- Private investment in AI (2025): Stanford HAI — AI Index Report 2026, Figure 4.2.8 (data: Quid). CC BY-ND 4.0 (AI Index 2026 report)
- Newly funded AI companies (2025): Stanford HAI — AI Index Report 2026, Figure 4.2.9 (data: Quid). CC BY-ND 4.0 (AI Index 2026 report)
Reuse and citation
Cite records, embed charts and download the CSV files freely, with the credit "Source: wheresthe.ai". Each record page has a ready-made citation. Underlying government documents keep their own terms.
- All AI rules and instruments (CSV)
- China CAC generative AI registry, in English (CSV)
- FDA AI-enabled devices with company country (CSV)
- AI rule deadlines (calendar feed)
- What changed (RSS)
Corrections
Found an error or a missing instrument? Email hello@wheresthe.ai with the official link. Corrections are reviewed within two working days and logged.
Not legal advice
wheresthe.ai records what official documents say and when they apply. It does not tell you how they apply to your situation.