Glossary
AI Act
The European Union's law regulating AI systems according to their level of risk.
The AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) is a binding EU law that sorts AI uses by risk. It bans a short list of practices, places detailed requirements on high-risk systems, sets transparency duties for things like chatbots and AI-generated content, and imposes specific obligations on providers of general-purpose AI models.
It applies to companies that place AI systems on the EU market or whose systems' output is used in the EU, wherever they are based, and is enforced through national authorities and an EU AI Office, with fines for violations.
Its obligations apply in stages over several years, and parts of the timeline have been subject to proposals for change. Check the current application date for any specific obligation before relying on it.
Read more: our explainer