Vietnam’s National Assembly has approved a package of laws that together create the country's first comprehensive regulatory regime for artificial intelligence while reinforcing state control over data, digital infrastructure and online information. According to the original report, lawmakers passed a standalone AI law adopting a risk‑based regulatory approach alongside sweeping changes to cybersecurity, intellectual property and a new digital‑technology framework. [1]

The AI measure establishes differentiated obligations according to the level of risk posed by systems and places explicit limits on intellectual property protection for AI‑generated works, with the legislature confirming that works created solely by AI will not receive IP protection. According to the original report, that decision aligns IP rules with the state’s position that human authorship remains a prerequisite for copyright. [1]

Revisions to the cybersecurity law preserve strict data‑localisation requirements and broaden state oversight of digital infrastructure. The original report noted the updated law retains obligations for certain data to be stored domestically, while expanding authorities’ powers to monitor and manage online content and infrastructure. Those changes come as part of a broader consolidation of regulatory control over the digital sphere. [1]

The package also includes the Law on Digital Technology Industry, a landmark statute designed to institutionalise a national digital‑transformation strategy and to promote sectors such as semiconductors, AI and digital assets. Industry commentary and legal summaries say the law formalises incentives, talent development programmes, infrastructure targets and sandbox mechanisms intended to accelerate domestic technological capacity and international integration. The law is being presented as a tool to create large numbers of digital firms and to lift the digital economy’s share of GDP substantially by 2030 and beyond. [3][4][5][6]

At the same time, the government has begun to lay formal groundwork for a regulated crypto asset market: legal analysis shows Hanoi launched a five‑year pilot programme for crypto assets, providing a nascent framework for issuance, trading and oversight that will operate alongside the new digital‑technology law. Those moves indicate an ambition to nurture home‑grown digital industries while keeping them tightly governed. [3]

Press‑freedom and human‑rights advocates say the legislative package must be read alongside parallel reforms to media and state secrets laws that expand state powers and constrain journalistic protections. Reporting indicates the amended press and state secrets statutes widen authorities’ ability to demand source disclosure, broaden the definition of protected state secrets to include officials’ overseas activities and international legal settlements, and increase penalties for unauthorised disclosures. Rights groups warn those measures will further restrict independent reporting and civic space. [2]

Observers say the combined effect of the laws is to marry an economic push for digital industrialisation with robust state oversight. Government and legislative sources present the reforms as necessary to secure national sovereignty over data and to foster a competitive domestic digital sector. Civil society and international rights organisations counter that expanded policing powers, data‑localisation rules and tighter media controls risk chilling free expression and complicating international cooperation in technology. [1][2][5]

The legal package arrives as Hanoi prepares to host and participate in international cyber and digital governance initiatives. The timing has drawn attention internationally: while the country signals ambitions to become a regional technology hub, analysts caution that a regulatory model prioritising state control will shape how foreign firms, investors and rights advocates engage with Vietnam’s rapidly evolving digital economy. Industry data and legal commentators suggest the practical outcome will hinge on implementing regulations, enforcement choices and how sandbox programmes balance innovation with regulatory safeguards. [7][3][5]

📌 Reference Map:

##Reference Map:

  • [1] (MLex) - Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 7
  • [2] (Reuters) - Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7
  • [3] (Allen & Gledhill) - Paragraph 4, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 8
  • [4] (Vietnam Law Service) - Paragraph 4
  • [5] (NO&AT) - Paragraph 4, Paragraph 7, Paragraph 8
  • [6] (Vietnam Briefing) - Paragraph 4
  • [7] (Reuters - UN cybercrime pact) - Paragraph 8

Source: Noah Wire Services