Brazil's PL 2338: the Status of Its AI Bill

Brazil’s AI bill is described in a great deal of writing as though it were in force. It is not, and the distinction is not pedantic: the risk tiers, the prohibitions and the regulator that summaries attribute to Brazilian law exist only in a text that one chamber of Congress has approved. Where the bill stands PL 2338/2023 was introduced in the Federal Senate in May 2023 by the then-President of the Senate, building on the report of a commission of jurists that had been convened to draft a substitute for earlier and much thinner AI bills. After committee work through 2024, the Senate plenary approved the bill on 10 December 2024 and sent it to the Chamber of Deputies, where it has been examined by a special committee rather than passed straight to a floor vote. As at the date on this page, the bill has not been enacted. It has been approved by one chamber and remains before the other. This is a status page about a live legislative process and it is written to be checked, not relied on. It is not legal advice. Before making any decision that depends on whether Brazil has an AI statute, verify the current stage on the official tracking pages linked below—a page written at any date can be overtaken the following week. How a Brazilian bill becomes law The reason “approved by the Senate” is so frequently misreported as “passed” is that the remaining route is substantial and can change the text materially. A bill originating in the Senate goes to the Chamber of Deputies as the revising chamber. If the Chamber amends it, the amended text returns to the Senate, which decides between its own text and the Chamber’s. Only when both chambers have settled on one text does it go to the President, who may sanction it in whole, or veto provisions in part, with vetoes subject to being overridden by Congress. Each of those stages has changed the substance of comparable Brazilian technology legislation. The LGPD itself, Brazil’s data protection statute, was enacted in 2018 and then am