Italy becomes the first EU country to adopt national artificial intelligence legislation with Law 132/2025 The Italian AI Law 132/2025 represents a comprehensive regulation on Artificial Intelligence, adopted
Italy becomes the first EU country to adopt national artificial intelligence legislation with Law 132/2025
The Italian AI Law 132/2025 represents a comprehensive regulation on Artificial Intelligence, adopted in line with the EU AI Act. Law 132/2025 is the all-Italian comprehensive regulation on Artificial Intelligence, adopted in line with the EU AI Act. The law regulates all activities aimed at researching, testing, developing, adopting, deploying and using AI in the aim of building safe, transparent and anthropocentric AI systems. It enters into force on October the 10th, 2025. This groundbreaking legislation establishes Italy as a pioneer in translating European AI frameworks into national law, setting clear principles for the responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence across multiple sectors. The law bundles up together fundamental rights, data protection principles, and sectoral regulations to ensure AI systems respect human autonomy while fostering innovation in Italian industries.
The law rearranges and absorbs the fundamental concepts of the AI Act, awarding particular relevance to several key areas that define Italy’s approach to artificial intelligence governance. The Italian AI Law establishes a human-centered vision where AI systems must enhance rather than replace human decision-making and responsibility. According to the European Commission’s regulatory framework, the EU AI Act provides the foundation upon which Italy has built its national legislation.
The legislation emphasizes four critical pillars that underpin the entire framework:
These principles reflect Italy’s commitment to ensuring that artificial intelligence systems operate consistently with fundamental rights, constitutional values, and EU law. The framework stresses that human oversight is not optional but mandatory throughout the entire lifecycle of AI systems, from development to deployment and beyond.
Law 132/2025 bundles up together the principles of free expression and free press with those related to online privacy and data protection. The Italian AI Law establishes comprehensive safeguards that ensure citizens maintain control over their personal information in an increasingly AI-driven society.
The processing of personal data by means of AI systems must respect the purpose for collection of such data, in line with the GDPR. This requirement ensures that AI systems cannot repurpose personal information beyond its original collection intent without explicit consent. The law emphasizes transparency, requiring that users be clearly informed about data use, associated risks, and their rights to opt out.
Personal data that is identifiable back to Under-14s must be allowed by a parent (or alike). This provision recognizes the vulnerability of minors in digital environments and establishes stronger protections for children’s data. The Italian AI Law prohibits algorithmic bias and information distortion, safeguarding freedom of expression and media pluralism while ensuring AI systems process data lawfully and fairly across all demographic groups.
Italy commits itself to foster AI development and deployment, in the aim of boosting Italian SMEs and micro enterprises, which represent a focal point of the Government’s strategy to preserve the ‘Made in Italy’ industrial and manufacturing sectors. The Italian AI Law establishes a national framework that balances innovation with regulatory compliance.
Interestingly, this Italy-focused strategy encourages e-procurement bodies to prioritise AI systems that localise data and are strategically placed within the Italian territory. This approach serves dual purposes: strengthening national data sovereignty while supporting domestic AI providers who understand local market needs and regulatory requirements.
Last but not least, the Government’s support includes making data available for the development and deployment of AI technology. The law permits the secondary use of pseudonymized personal data for research purposes without requiring renewed consent, provided transparency safeguards are in place. The government has also committed significant financial resources, establishing a €1 billion AI investment fund to accelerate research, development, and adoption of artificial intelligence technologies across Italian industries.
The law provides specific instructions for AI systems used for matters of national security, the judiciary and the administration, as well as in the Italian healthcare system. The Italian AI Law recognizes that different sectors require tailored regulatory approaches that address their unique risks and operational requirements.
In the latter case, the patient plays a prominent role in consenting to being treated by use of AI technology. AI technologies may be employed to assist in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and therapeutic decision-making; however, ultimate responsibility for medical decisions remains with healthcare professionals. The law prohibits the use of AI to discriminate in access to healthcare services and affirms the right of patients to be informed when AI tools are utilized in their care.
In order to foster scientific research in this field, AI providers and deployers can use patient data when the processing is aimed at enhancing medical or related scientific research, but its anonymisation, pseudonymisation and synthetisation is required. Healthcare-related AI systems must meet standards of reliability, undergo periodic verification and updates and be designed to minimize risks to patient safety and privacy.
AI technology must be used to ameliorate work conditions. The Italian AI Law establishes clear boundaries for how artificial intelligence can be deployed in workplace environments, ensuring that technological advancement benefits rather than harms workers.
The employee must always be informed that an AI tool is introduced in the workplace, and the tool mustn’t operate in a discriminatory way. This information obligation is broader than that provided for in the EU AI Act, which applies only to high-risk AI systems. The law requires employers to provide adequate information about AI systems, their functions, and their implications for work activities.
When exercising their professional functions, professionals can use AI as a subsidiary tool, must never delegate decisions to an AI tool, especially because all legal responsibility remains with the person deploying the tool (Art. 13). All intellectual activity in exercising a profession must remain prevalently human-based. This applies to lawyers – and yes, consultants too. The Italian AI Law prohibits professionals from entrusting their work entirely to an AI system and imposes a clear obligation to provide information on the use of this technology.
Article 25 of the Law updates Art. 1 of Law (633/1941) – or Copyright Law, by including works created by a human author with the help of AI technologies within the category of works protected by the law. The Italian AI Law takes a definitive stance on intellectual property in the age of artificial intelligence. As noted by copyright experts at Communia Association, this amendment explicitly emphasizes human authorship in the creative process.
It is appropriate to say, that in Italy originality really matters. The law explicitly extends copyright protection to works created with the aid of AI systems, provided that they are the result of the intellectual work of the human author. This provision ensures that human creativity remains the cornerstone of copyright protection, even when technological tools assist in the creative process.
The Law also modifies the Italian Penal Code by including a crime for deploying the TDM exception in an unauthorised manner, sending a strong message to GenAI providers that deploy pirated databases. While text-and-data mining for AI training is permitted where users have lawful access to content, it remains subject to Articles 70-ter and 70-quarter of Italian Copyright Law, which allow rightsholders to exercise an opt-out mechanism ensuring their data and works are not used without consent.
The Italian AI Law 132/2025 represents a landmark achievement in AI governance, establishing Italy as the first EU country to adopt comprehensive national artificial intelligence legislation. This framework balances innovation with responsibility, ensuring AI systems respect human autonomy, protect fundamental rights, and operate transparently across all sectors from healthcare to professional services.
If you’re working with AI systems in Italy, start by reviewing how your current operations align with the law’s core principles: transparency, human oversight, data protection, and non-discrimination. Ensure your teams understand that AI must support rather than replace human decision-making, and verify that proper consent mechanisms are in place for personal data processing.
The law’s entry into force on October 10, 2025 marks the beginning of a new era where artificial intelligence serves people, not the other way around. By prioritizing human values, protecting intellectual property rights, and establishing clear responsibilities, Italy has created a framework that encourages innovation while safeguarding citizens’ rights. This balanced approach demonstrates that technological progress and ethical governance can work hand in hand, setting a standard for other nations to follow as they navigate the complex landscape of AI regulation.
