Glossary · AI Act
AI Act
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the EU's law on artificial intelligence, regulating AI systems according to the risk they pose.
Explained in depth: AI Act overview
The AI Act is the world's first comprehensive AI law. It entered into force on 1 August 2024 and applies in stages: prohibitions on unacceptable-risk AI and AI literacy duties from 2 February 2025, rules for general-purpose AI models and governance from 2 August 2025, and the bulk of the high-risk requirements from 2 August 2026, with some embedded-product cases extending to 2027. As a regulation, it applies directly in all member states. The law follows a risk-based approach: a small set of practices is banned outright; high-risk systems face strict requirements around risk management, data governance, documentation, human oversight, and conformity assessment; limited-risk systems carry transparency duties; minimal-risk systems are unregulated. Separate obligations apply to general-purpose AI models. It applies to providers placing AI on the EU market and to deployers using AI in the EU, wherever they are established.
Why it matters
Almost every organisation now deploys AI in some form, which makes almost every organisation a deployer with at least AI literacy and transparency duties. Fines reach EUR 35 million or 7% of global turnover for prohibited practices.