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The Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative (AIGI) was launched in September 2023 as one of three new research programmes at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. It aims to understand and anticipate lasting risks from artificial intelligence through rigorous research into the technical and computational elements of AI development, combined with deep policy analysis.

AIGI is co-directed by Professor Robert Trager, a social scientist specializing in international relations and frontier AI regulation who also serves as International Governance Lead at the Centre for the Governance of AI (GovAI) and Senior Research Fellow at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government, and Professor Michael Osborne, a specialist in machine learning. The initiative is one of the few centres in the world to combine computational science with social science approaches to AI governance…

AIGI believes that effectively governing AI requires bridging the gap between technical understanding of AI systems and policy expertise. By combining rigorous research into AI's computational elements with deep policy analysis, they aim to produce actionable insights that directly inform regulation and governance at national and international levels. Their theory of change operates through three channels: producing agenda-setting research that shapes global AI governance debates (influencing the UN, EU, UK, and US policy); training the next generation of technical AI governance leaders through their DPhil programme, placing graduates in government, industry, and civil society roles; and placing affiliates in senior positions at key institutions like the EU AI Office and UK AI Safety Institute to translate research into regulation. The initiative also focuses on international coordination to ensure AI governance keeps pace with rapid technological development.