  Artificial intelligence (AI) represents a technological upheaval with the
potential to change human society. Because of its transformative potential, AI
is increasingly becoming subject to regulatory initiatives at the global level.
Yet, so far, scholarship in political science and international relations has
focused more on AI applications than on the emerging architecture of global AI
regulation. The purpose of this article is to outline an agenda for research
into the global governance of AI. The article distinguishes between two broad
perspectives: an empirical approach, aimed at mapping and explaining global AI
governance; and a normative approach, aimed at developing and applying
standards for appropriate global AI governance. The two approaches offer
questions, concepts, and theories that are helpful in gaining an understanding
of the emerging global governance of AI. Conversely, exploring AI as a
regulatory issue offers a critical opportunity to refine existing general
approaches to the study of global governance.
