Greens pledge tighter rules for AI in New Zealand

The Green Party says it would regulate AI so its benefits are shared with New Zealanders rather than concentrated among technology companies. Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said AI should work for people and the planet, and argued government has a role in regulating the technology to share benefits and minimise harms.

The party’s policy says AI should not replace human and democratic decision-making, and that data sovereignty, community consent, environmental limits, transparency and accountability should be protected. It would block fully automated decisions in public services where outcomes could make a substantive difference to people’s lives, requiring humans managing the tools to retain decision-making power.

The Greens also want stronger protections for data, explicit consent standards for AI training data, and mandatory environmental impact assessments for hyperscale AI data centres. New facilities would be required to fully cover their own energy use, while companies would face stronger tax enforcement and workers would have a say in workplace AI adoption.