The AI law is a sweeping set of rules for technology companies operating in the EU, banning certain uses of AI tools and imposing transparency requirements on developers. The law was officially passed in March after two years of debate and includes multiple phases of compliance that will be gradually implemented.
Now that the full text has been released, the countdown has officially begun for the deadline by which companies must comply: the AI Act comes into force in 20 days, on August 1, and future deadlines will be tied to that date.
The new law bans certain uses of AI, and these bans are part of the initial deadlines. The AI law bans the use of applications that “threaten civil rights”, such as biometric classification to infer information such as sexual orientation or religion, and the indiscriminate taking of facial images from the internet or security camera footage. Systems that attempt to read emotions are banned in the workplace and schools, as are social scoring systems. The use of predictive policing tools is also prohibited in some cases. These uses are considered to carry “unacceptable risks”, and tech companies must comply by February 2, 2025.
Nine months after the law goes into effect, on May 2, 2025, developers will have a code of conduct, a set of rules outlining compliance, benchmarks to be met, key performance indicators, and specific transparency requirements. Three months later, in August 2025, “general-purpose AI systems” like chatbots will have to comply with copyright law and meet transparency requirements, such as sharing an overview of the data used to train the systems.
By August 2026, AI law rules will become generally applicable to companies operating in the EU. Developers of some “high-risk” AI systems will have up to 36 months (until August 2027) to comply with rules such as risk assessments and human oversight. This risk level includes applications integrated into infrastructure, employment, critical services such as banking and healthcare, and the justice system.
Non-compliance could result in violating companies being fined a percentage of their total revenue or a fixed amount. Violating a prohibited system would result in the maximum fine of 35 million euros (about $38 million), or 7% of annual worldwide revenue.
