Accompanying research on the ‘Pilot Project Real-World Laboratory’ by BNetzA, the Federal Data Protection Commissioner and the State of Hesse

Regulatory real-world laboratories, or ‘real-world laboratories’ for short, are among the innovative procedural, administrative and supervisory tools for implementing and further developing AI governance and AI regulation in Europe based on experience. They are intended to enable AI, as a ‘moving target’, to be confronted with a regulatory framework that is itself adaptable and based on regulatory and technical experience. EU legislation – namely the AI Act, which will come into force on 1 January 2026 – grants companies opportunities for experimentation within the framework of these real-world laboratories, both in practical and technical terms and with regard to standards that may be critically affected. In doing so, they receive close supervision and advice from the authorities. In addition to testing specific AI applications within a legally privileged, closely supervised framework, the real-world laboratories are primarily intended to generate and develop AI-related risk knowledge and regulatory solutions. Key words here are consultation, but also ‘legal sandboxing’. A definition of what an AI real-world laboratory actually is and what it should achieve in detail is currently being prepared by the EU bodies responsible for implementing the AI Regulation on the basis of the relevant provisions of Art. 57 ff. of the AI Act.