Digital Lexicon Hub

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, a risk-based legal framework governing the development, placing on the market, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence in the European Union.

The Act affects AI product design, procurement, deployment, documentation, oversight, monitoring, and contracting for organizations serving or operating in the EU. Preparation requires an AI inventory, role and risk classification, evidence collection, and accountable governance.

A provider maps its AI-enabled products, determines whether it is acting as provider or deployer, screens for prohibited and high-risk uses, assigns evidence owners, and tracks obligations against the applicable timeline.

The AI Act is not a voluntary framework or a general ethical checklist. Obligations vary by role and use case, and implementation dates and supporting guidance can change. Legal interpretation should be validated by qualified counsel.

The Act assigns requirements according to the role of the organization and the risk or category of the AI system or general-purpose AI model. It prohibits specified practices, imposes controls on high-risk systems, introduces transparency duties for certain systems, and establishes obligations for general-purpose AI. Application dates are phased: prohibitions and AI literacy have applied since 2 February 2025, general-purpose AI obligations since 2 August 2025 and most transparency duties since 2 August 2026. The Digital Omnibus on AI, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, moved high-risk obligations to 2 December 2027 for Annex III uses and 2 August 2028 for Annex I products, and added prohibitions that apply from 2 December 2026. Providers can rely on a Harmonized Standard to show conformity: the first, EN 18286:2026 on quality management for high-risk AI, was cited in the Official Journal on 14 October 2026, and more are expected.