EST. 2025 · WELLINGTON AOTEAROA

OTHER COUNTRIES
ARE WRITING THE
RULES.

NEW ZEALAND
CAN CHOOSE TO
BE AT THE TABLE.

We're an independent advocacy initiative translating global AI risks into a New Zealand context and pushing for the laws, institutions, and literacy to meet them.

WHAT WE WORK ON

Public education+

Explainers, social content, and plain-language guides that make AI safety relevant to everyday New Zealanders.

Campaigns+

Targeted advocacy on specific issues, with practical tools for the public to take action.

Events+

Public talks and community conversations that bring AI safety out of the conference room and into Aotearoa.

More on our approach

01 - Our position

The rules of AI are being written without us. We think New Zealand should be at the table.

The decisions being made right now by governments, companies, and researchers in the US, EU, and China will shape life in Aotearoa, whether we participate or not.

Our laws were not designed for AI-enabled harms. Our small population makes us disproportionately valuable as training data, yet we have almost no rules governing how it's used.

We research, translate, and communicate AI safety issues for a New Zealand audience, making technical concepts accessible, analysing global developments through a local lens. We educate New Zealanders about AI risks, run campaigns on specific issues, and make it easy for ordinary people to take action.

More about who we are

03 - The blog

Recent thinking

Read the blog
Explainer · May 6, 2026

Reward Hacking: When AI Goes Off Script

Reward functions are the mechanisms that guide AI systems towards their desired goals. They essentially provide a score or rating to the AI based on its…

04 - Signal

What we’re reading

A hand-picked selection of New Zealand AI stories worth paying attention to. Updated monthly.

Follow along

@aisafetyaotearoa

View on Instagram

05 - Subscribe

Join the AI Safety Aotearoa Mailing list