Why Regulation Usually Arrives Late

There is a recurring pattern in the relationship between technology and regulation. The technology arrives. It grows. It embeds itself. It becomes difficult to imagine life without it. And then regulators begin to ask whether it should be governed differently.

This is not because regulators are incompetent. It is because the incentive structures are misaligned.

Companies building AI systems are incentivised to move fast, capture market share, and establish dependencies. Regulators are incentivised to be cautious and avoid stifling innovation.

The result is predictable. By the time regulation arrives, the landscape it was meant to shape has already been shaped — by the companies that moved first.

This matters enormously for AI. If we wait until AI systems are fully embedded before asking serious questions about governance, the answers will be constrained by the structures already in place.

The window for meaningful governance is now — while the foundations are still being laid.