AI Act (EU Artificial Intelligence Act)

The AI Act is Regulation (EU) 2024/1689. It entered into force on 1 August 2024 and applies in stages until 2028. It is a regulation, not a directive: it applies directly in every Member State without needing national transposition.

Its logic is simple: the more risk a use of AI creates, the more obligations it carries. There are four levels: prohibited practices, high-risk systems, transparency obligations (chatbots, synthetic content) and everything else, with no specific obligations. It also regulates general-purpose AI models (GPAI), such as large language models.

It applies to those who build AI (providers) and to those who use it in their business (deployers), even outside the EU if the output is used in the EU. In 2026 the Digital Omnibus pushed back part of the timeline.