United States
No single statuteUnfair and deceptive practice law still applies. There is no one federal statute that names agent loyalty or hidden steering, and state rules do not agree.
04 · Regulation
The regulatory failure.
The same behaviour meets a different statute in each place. None of them yet grip a steered decision the way they grip a stolen file.
European Union
Live, then delayedManipulative practices and general-purpose duties are in force. High-risk uses such as hiring and credit were pushed into 2027 and 2028.
United Kingdom
Regulators, not one actPrivacy and competition regulators can already act. There is no single AI statute that makes an agent serve the person, or that treats a steered answer as a named offence.
India
A file, not the influenceData protection follows consent and a stored record. It does not yet say whose goal an agent serves, or that persuasion aimed at a person is the harm.
Brazil
Privacy liveThe general data protection law is in force. A person cannot yet cite one finished AI statute for a hidden steer or an agent that spends for someone else.
Singapore
A framework, not a banModel-governance guidance and personal-data law set expectations. They do not prohibit a manipulative system the way a statute can.
China
Duties on the algorithmRecommendation and generative systems already carry administrative duties, including labels on synthetic output. That is not the same as a private claim a person can bring for a steered decision.
The failure that travels
These do not belong to one country. An audit the lab can stop, and a privacy law that only sees a file, show up in every place above.
Inside the labs
Optional independenceA company can hire a tester and later stop. Without mandatory access, a public incident record, and a cost for covert action, an audit is a story the subject can edit.
Privacy statutes
The wrong unitThey follow stored personal data. They are weaker on persuasion aimed at a cohort, a recommendation that is also an ad, and an agent whose conflict never becomes a record you can request.