Technical

AI Sandbox

Virtual testbed for developing and testing AI agri-solutions.

How the laws define this

Regulatory frameworks consistently treat an AI sandbox as a secure, controlled, or supervised environment where developers test, evaluate, and validate AI systems prior to wider deployment or integration. These authorities agree that sandboxing enables safe innovation under governance rules, oversight, or established ethical, privacy, and data safeguards. However, these frameworks diverge regarding legal powers and operational scope. The Amendments to the Law on Information Society Services (measures to implement EU AI Act / accelerate AI development) explicitly establishes a legal mechanism granting time-limited derogations and reduced procedural friction. In contrast, the Maharashtra MahaAgri-AI Policy 2025-29 designates a virtual test environment focused on agricultural solutions for startups. Meanwhile, the Asturias AI Public Administration Decree 2025 and Decreto 98/2025, de 22 de julio, por el que se regula el uso de la Inteligencia Artificial en la Administración del Principado de Asturias y su sector público focus specifically on evaluating tools prior to integration into live public services and public administration.

Synthesised from the 6 statutory definitions below. Each one is quoted in full, with its source.

How jurisdictions differ

What is distinctive in each definition, binding law in force first.

Jurisdiction	Instrument	Status	What is distinctive
Lithuania	Amendments to the Law on Technology and Innovation	In Force	Specifies controlled data access, iterative compliance testing, and governance rules by the Innovation Agency and Ministry for alignment with EU AI Act safeguards.
Asturias, Spain	Decree 98/2025, of July 22, regulating the use of Artificial Intelligence in the Administration of the Principality of Asturias and its public sector	In Force	Describes it in Spanish as 'entorno de pruebas controlado', emphasizing identification of errors, biases, risks, data security, and ethical-legal alignment.
Maharashtra, India	Maharashtra MahaAgri-AI Policy 2025-29	In Force	Limits it to a virtual test environment exclusively for developing, simulating, and validating AI-based agricultural solutions.
Malaysia	AI Sandbox 2024 (National AI sandbox pilot programme)	In Force	Includes support services like mentoring and scaling under NTIS safeguards, with coordination involving sector regulators and partners.
Lithuania	Amendments to the Law on Information Society Services (measures to implement EU AI Act / accelerate AI development)	In Force	Highlights time-limited derogations, reduced procedural friction, oversight, privacy safeguards, and transparent application-reporting procedures.
Asturias, Spain	Asturias AI Public Administration Decree 2025	In Force	Simplest version, narrowing it to just a secure controlled environment for testing and validating tools before live public service integration.

Definitions (6)

The AI Sandbox is a virtual test environment provided by the policy where startups and innovators can develop, simulate, and validate AI-based agricultural solutions under controlled, real-world-like conditions before wider deployment.

Maharashtra MahaAgri-AI Policy 2025-29Definition 1 of 6

A supervised test environment and associated support services for validating, testing, mentoring and scaling AI systems in real-world conditions under NTIS safeguards, used to accelerate development and commercialisation while coordinating with sector regulators and partners.

AI Sandbox 2024 (National AI sandbox pilot programme)Definition 2 of 6

A pilot regulatory environment established to enable supervised development, testing and trialling of AI systems under controlled conditions. The sandbox provides controlled data access, iterative compliance testing and governance rules set by the Innovation Agency and Ministry, intended to accelerate innovation while ensuring alignment with EU AI Act safeguards.

Amendments to the Law on Technology and Innovation (measures to implement EU AI Act / accelerate AI development)Definition 3 of 6

A legal mechanism operated under the Innovation Agency for supervised pilot testing of AI in controlled conditions, allowing time-limited derogations and reduced procedural friction solely for testing and evaluation, subject to oversight, privacy safeguards, and transparent application and reporting procedures.

Amendments to the Law on Information Society Services (measures to implement EU AI Act / accelerate AI development)Definition 4 of 6

An 'entorno de pruebas controlado' or regulatory sandbox is a secure and regulated environment where new AI systems can be tested and evaluated. This is crucial for identifying potential errors, biases, and risks, ensuring data security, and verifying alignment with ethical and legal principles before definitive implementation.

Decreto 98/2025, de 22 de julio, por el que se regula el uso de la Inteligencia Artificial en la Administración del Principado de Asturias y su sector públicoDefinition 5 of 6

A secure and controlled environment where new tools can be tested and validated before they are integrated into live public services, facilitating innovation and safety.

Asturias AI Public Administration Decree 2025Definition 6 of 6

Not to be confused with

Digital sandbox

Digital sandbox emphasizes a controlled environment for general AI experimentation, while AI Sandbox definitions here focus on supervised testing with regulatory features.

AI Innovation Sandbox

AI Innovation Sandbox highlights implementing and evaluating AI projects to explore potential and challenges, differing from the supervised, safeguarded testing in these definitions.

Sandbox/testbed

Sandbox/testbed broadly covers controlled experimental environments for AI testing, whereas these AI Sandbox definitions add specific regulatory derogations, oversight, or sector focus.

Questions and answers

What regulatory flexibilities does the Lithuanian AI sandbox offer?

It provides time-limited derogations and reduced procedural friction for supervised pilot testing under oversight and privacy safeguards. Transparent application and reporting procedures apply.

How does the Asturias decree define and use the AI sandbox?

It defines it as a secure 'entorno de pruebas controlado' for testing AI systems to identify errors, biases, risks, ensure data security, and align with ethical principles before deployment.

What is the purpose of the AI Sandbox in Maharashtra's MahaAgri-AI Policy?

It offers a virtual test environment for startups to develop, simulate, and validate AI solutions for agriculture under controlled conditions before wider deployment.