# What is AI Governance? Definition & Technical Mechanics

> **Source:** [SPIDITS AI AI Glossary](https://spidits.com/ai-glossary)  
> **Category:** Alignment & Safety  
> **Canonical Citation:** [https://spidits.com/ai-glossary/ai-governance](https://spidits.com/ai-glossary/ai-governance)

## Definition
AI Governance refers to the systemic framework of policies, procedures, compliance standards, and organizational structures established to supervise, monitor, and regulate an organization's AI deployment.

## Architectural Mechanics & Deep Dive
AI governance refers to the legal, regulatory, and organizational frameworks established to manage the development, deployment, and impact of artificial intelligence systems. It involves defining compliance standards, safety audits, risk assessment protocols, and accountability metrics. Effective governance bridges the gap between technical safety research and public policy, ensuring that organizations build and deploy AI responsibly while complying with regional regulations like the EU AI Act.

## Industry Applications & Real-World Use Cases
Regulatory compliance tracking, audit logging, model access control, and board-level risk management.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is the role of an AI registry in AI governance?
It maintains a central inventory of all active models inside an enterprise, cataloging their training data provenance, approval status, risk rating, and owners.

### What regulatory standards influence AI governance?
The EU AI Act, which categorizes AI applications by risk levels and enforces strict compliance requirements on high-risk use cases.

## Related Terminology
- [responsible-ai](https://spidits.com/ai-glossary/responsible-ai)
- [ai-safety](https://spidits.com/ai-glossary/ai-safety)
- [guardrails](https://spidits.com/ai-glossary/guardrails)

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*From the SPIDITS AI Knowledge Base (336+ terms indexed). Explore full technical definitions: [https://spidits.com/ai-glossary](https://spidits.com/ai-glossary)*