A World First
The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) is considered to be the world’s first comprehensive horizontal legal framework for AI. It provides for EU-wide rules on data quality, transparency, human oversight, and accountability. With challenging requirements, significant extraterritorial effects, and fines of up to 35 million euros or 7% of global annual revenue (whichever is higher), the AI Act will have a profound impact on a significant number of companies conducting business in the European Union.
The Time to Prepare Is Now
The AI Act was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on July 12, 2024, as “Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence.” While the AI Act will generally apply starting on August 2, 2026, the exact milestones are quite nuanced and complex, with some provisions already applying since February 2, 2025. Several categories of affected actors may face the need to significantly redesign their products and services, a process which should be initiated as soon as possible. Non-AI companies are subject to similar time constraints, as they will need to understand the technology and establish their own risk thresholds to effectively navigate compliance.
What You Will Find in This Guide
The European Union’s AI Act is a long, complex, and technical text that is full of cross-references to other European legislative instruments and that uses concepts that sometimes require prior knowledge of European law, and of data protection law in particular.
This guide offers a simplified presentation of the AI Act’s requirements, focusing on the most relevant aspects to help companies maintain compliance. To this end, this guide covers the topics listed below.
- Scope and Approach of the AI Act
- Critical Milestones on the Road to Full Applicability of the AI Act
- Prohibited AI Practices
- Definition and Requirements for High-Risk AI Systems
- Obligations for Deployers, Providers, Importers and Distributors of High-Risk AI Systems
- Limited-Risk AI
- Generative AI
- Innovation and Regulatory Sandboxes
- Standards, Specifications and Certificates
- Supervision and Enforcement
