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European Parliament and Council — in force, applying in stages to 2028
EU ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ACT (REGULATION (EU) 2024/1689), AS AMENDED BY THE DIGITAL OMNIBUS ON AI
It is the first broad AI law of its kind and sets rules that many non-EU providers follow in practice, so the deferrals and the new prohibitions change compliance planning worldwide.
In force since 1 August 2024 and applying progressively. The Digital Omnibus on AI, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, entered into force on 27 July 2026 and moved several deadlines. The Commission's own timeline is the authoritative source.
- Introduced
- Commission proposal April 2021; entered into force 1 August 2024 — Ordinary legislative procedure (Parliament and Council)
- Sponsor
- European Commission (proposal)
- Responsible for it now
- European Commission AI Office and national competent authorities
- Next milestone
- 2 December 2026: the new prohibitions on non-consensual sexual deepfakes and child sexual abuse material apply, alongside the transitional deadline under Article 50(2) for synthetic-content providers already on the market. High-risk Annex III rules then follow on 2 December 2027 and Annex I on 2 August 2028.
The 60-second version
The AI Act is the EU's horizontal law on artificial intelligence. It bans a small set of practices outright, sets heavy obligations for 'high-risk' uses such as employment, education, credit scoring and law enforcement, adds transparency duties for AI-generated content, and creates a separate regime for general-purpose AI models.
It applies in stages rather than at once. Prohibitions and AI literacy rules applied from 2 February 2025; general-purpose AI model rules and national governance from 2 August 2025; most remaining rules and enforcement from 2 August 2026. The Digital Omnibus on AI then deferred the standalone high-risk obligations in Annex III to 2 December 2027 and product-embedded high-risk systems in Annex I to 2 August 2028, while adding a new prohibition on AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery and child sexual abuse material from 2 December 2026.
Who is affected: anyone providing or deploying AI systems in the EU market, including non-EU companies, plus national regulators and the EU AI Office.
Case in favour
- Sets one set of rules across the single market instead of diverging national AI laws.
- Bans a defined set of practices considered incompatible with fundamental rights, and adds a new prohibition on AI-generated sexual abuse imagery.
- Creates transparency duties so people can tell when content or a decision involves AI.
Case against
- Industry argued the original 2 August 2026 high-risk deadline was unworkable because the harmonised standards needed to demonstrate conformity were not ready.
- Critics of the Digital Omnibus say deferring high-risk obligations by 16 months weakens protection in exactly the areas of greatest risk.
- Compliance costs and documentation burdens fall heavily on smaller providers.
Independent evidence and what is still uncertain
- Harmonised standards underpinning conformity assessment are still being finalised, so the practical compliance route is not yet settled.
- Analysts disagree on whether the deferral is a genuine reprieve: the underlying obligations are unchanged and legacy public-sector high-risk systems must comply by 2 August 2030 regardless.
- Enforcement capacity varies between member states, and national penalty regimes are not uniform.
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