New Zealand's Greens: "We don't work for ai"

On Monday, Green Party co-leaders Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson said the Greens would regulate ai if elected. New Zealand votes on 7 November.

What they promised

• a dedicated ai office
• mandatory labels on ai-generated content
• environmental impact assessments before anyone builds a hyperscale ai data centre
• workers taking part in decisions about ai in their own workplace
• stronger tax enforcement on ai profits sent offshore

Why it matters

This is ai regulation as a promise in a live national election, not a white paper. The workplace clause is the unusual part: most ai policy talks about consumers and safety, not about the people whose jobs change.

The international ai press hasn't picked it up. All six outlets covering it are in New Zealand.

One caveat: the Greens' one-year pause on new ai data centres dates from mid-year and isn't new.