When does the EU AI Act apply?

It entered into force on 1 August 2024 and applies in phases: prohibited practices from Feb 2025, GPAI rules from Aug 2025, transparency from 2 August 2026, and high-risk obligations from 2 December 2027 (Annex III) and 2 August 2028 (Annex I), as amended by the Digital Omnibus (Reg (EU) 2026/1744).

Providers and deployers of AI systems placed on or used in the EU market - including companies based outside the EU whose AI output is used in the Union.

What is a high-risk AI system?

AI used in a sensitive Annex III area - biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, essential services, law enforcement, migration, or justice - or as a safety component of a regulated product.

What are the penalties?

Up to EUR 35 million or 7% of global annual turnover for prohibited practices, EUR 15 million or 3% for other obligations, and EUR 7.5 million or 1% for supplying misleading information.

What is a GPAI model?

A general-purpose AI model trained on broad data that can perform many tasks - for example a large language model. Providers face documentation, training-data summary, and copyright duties from 2 August 2025 (models placed on the market before then must comply by 2 August 2027); AI Office enforcement powers apply from 2 August 2026.

Does GDPR compliance cover the AI Act?

No. GDPR governs personal data; the AI Act governs AI systems by risk. They overlap on automated decisions, but the AI Act adds distinct obligations.

What is the transparency obligation?

Under Article 50, users must be told when they are interacting with AI, and AI-generated or manipulated media (deepfakes) must be marked in a machine-readable way.

What is conformity assessment?

The process by which a high-risk AI provider demonstrates the system meets the Act's requirements - usually via internal control, sometimes via a notified body - before placing it on the market.

Map which obligations apply, classify your systems by risk, run a readiness assessment, and build reusable evidence - risk assessments, documentation, logging, and human oversight.

Reference / archiveA reference page, kept for the record. No current version supersedes it. See the measurement board →EU AI Act & Regulation →

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The first comprehensive AI law. It regulates AI by risk - banning unacceptable uses, heavily regulating high-risk systems, requiring transparency for limited-risk AI, and leaving minimal-risk AI largely free.

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