EU AI Act

AI RegulationIn Effect

A focused view of the rule, its enforcement posture, and the timeline teams should keep in their operating plan.

Plain-English summary

What this regulation means

Built for operators

The EU AI Act creates a single risk-based rulebook for AI across the bloc, ranging from outright bans on a narrow set of uses to detailed duties for high-risk systems and general-purpose AI models. It affects providers, deployers, importers, distributors, and product manufacturers that place AI systems on the EU market or use them in the EU. Core requirements include risk management, technical documentation, transparency, human oversight, post-market monitoring, and incident reporting.

Reading guide

Use the timeline below to see how the rule progressed from enactment to current obligations.

Related regulations surface adjacent requirements in the same jurisdiction or policy lane.

Timeline

Regulatory lifecycle

Sequence: Entered Into Force -> Prohibited Practices Apply

1
Aug 1, 2024
Entered Into Force
The AI Act entered into force, starting a phased compliance schedule across prohibited practices and high-risk use cases.
2
Feb 2, 2025
Prohibited Practices Apply
The first substantive AI Act obligations began to apply, including the ban on prohibited AI practices.

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