This introductory chapter provides a conceptual introduction and presents the structure of the volume and the contributions of the authors, setting the stage for a multidisciplinary volume dedicated to the governance of increasingly autonomous artificial intelligence systems. Moving beyond a strictly legalistic definition, the authors propose a broader understanding of regulation as an expansive domain for ethical reflection, experimentation, and societal implementation. The text provides a multi-disciplinary examination of the problem space of the concept autonomy, critically distinguishing between automatic behaviors and machine autonomy, while simultaneously contrasting these with the philosophical evolution of human autonomy—ranging from Kantian moral self-legislation to contemporary relational perspectives. Special emphasis is placed on the hybrid nature of agency, exploring the tensions and necessary coordination within human-AI interaction loops (human-in, on, and out-of-the-loop). Finally, the chapter delineates the volume’s structural approach, which addresses the governance of autonomy through four interconnected dimensions: the ethical foundations and social implications; the agential reality of embodied AI and robotics; the axiological challenge of embedding values into systems; and the regulatory frameworks required for effective oversight.