Argentine President Milei proposes legal framework for AI‑run corporations

President Javier Milei of Argentina wrote in the Financial Times that he intends to legalise “non‑human AI companies”, entities in which artificial intelligence would act as the legal representative, sign contracts, own assets, hire staff and even initiate lawsuits. The proposal, still in the conceptual stage, has not yet been included in any bill before parliament.

Milei argues that AI could boost productivity beyond the limits of the human brain and wants minimal regulation to foster development. The idea has triggered immediate international debate; Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari warned that such firms could create an “AI State” with no clear avenue for criminal liability, asking “who would be punished if an AI‑run company commits a crime?”. Argentine lawyers also raised concerns that the model could be used to hide responsibility and facilitate money‑laundering, echoing warnings from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance about frontier AI capabilities.

The proposal is part of Milei’s broader strategy to use advanced technology to address Argentina’s long‑standing economic crisis, high inflation and stagnant growth, and it includes plans for an AI‑driven public‑security unit that monitors crime pre‑emptively. Critics say the policy risks shifting social costs onto citizens and may turn the country into a testing ground for foreign tech firms.