EU AI Act

The EU AI Act is Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the European Union's binding legal framework for AI systems and general-purpose AI models, built around prohibited practices, high-risk system duties, transparency obligations, governance, enforcement, and innovation support.

Key facts

• Official title: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) ^[src-085].
• Published: Official Journal L series, 2024/1689, 12 July 2024 ^[src-085].
• General application date: 2 August 2026, with earlier application for Chapters I-II from 2 February 2025, governance/GPAI/penalty provisions from 2 August 2025, and Article 6(1) high-risk product rules from 2 August 2027 ^[src-085].
• Primary mechanism: A risk-based legal framework spanning prohibited uses, high-risk AI systems, transparency obligations, general-purpose AI model governance, market surveillance, penalties, and sandboxes ^[src-085].
• Public communication update: The European Commission says clear labeling requirements for deepfakes, AI-generated content, and chatbots apply from August 2026 ^[src-150].

What it does

The Act applies to providers placing AI systems or general-purpose AI models on the EU market, deployers in the Union, some third-country providers and deployers where AI outputs are used in the Union, importers, distributors, product manufacturers, authorised representatives, and affected persons in the Union ^[src-085].

Its central compliance structure is layered. Article 5 prohibits practices treated as unacceptable risk. Article 6 and Annex III define high-risk systems. Articles 9-15 set requirements for high-risk systems, including risk management, data governance, documentation, logging, transparency to deployers, human oversight, accuracy, robustness, and cybersecurity. Article 50 adds transparency duties for AI interactions and synthetic/deepfake content. Chapter V sets obligations for general-purpose AI models and systemic-risk models ^[src-085].

The Act also creates institutional machinery: national competent authorities, an EU database for high-risk AI systems, regulatory sandboxes, codes of practice, penalties, and an European AI Office role for general-purpose AI model supervision ^[src-085].

Related

• Issued by: European Union
• Governed with: European AI Office
• Related concepts: Risk Based AI Regulation, Prohibited AI Practices, High Risk AI Systems, General Purpose AI Model Governance, AI Act Compliance Roles
• Disclosure concepts: AI Content Labeling, Synthetic Media Governance

Source references

• ^[src-085] European Parliament and Council of the European Union – "Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 … (Artificial Intelligence Act)" (2024-07-12)
• ^[src-150] European Commission – "AI content is getting labels" (2026-06-22)