EU AI Act

This is not legal advice.

How is it structured?

The European Commission describes four risk levels. Practices with unacceptable risk, such as social scoring or harmful manipulation, are banned. High-risk systems in areas like employment, education or law enforcement must meet requirements for risk assessment, documentation and human oversight. A transparency level covers systems that interact with people or generate content. Most other applications, for example spam filters, face no new requirements.

What does it mean for websites and content?

Two parts touch content work. Article 50 requires providers of AI systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video or text to mark the output in a machine-readable way. Deployers must disclose deepfakes, and also AI-generated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest, unless a human reviewed it and someone holds editorial responsibility.

Article 53 obliges providers of general-purpose AI models to publish a summary of their training content and to have a policy for respecting EU copyright, including rights reservations.

When does it apply?

The regulation entered into force on August 1, 2024. According to the Commission, the ban on prohibited practices applied from February 2, 2025, governance rules and obligations for general-purpose models from August 2, 2025, and general applicability from August 2, 2026. For high-risk systems, the Commission lists later dates after the July 2026 Digital Omnibus: December 2, 2027 for systems in sensitive areas and August 2, 2028 for systems built into regulated products. These dates match Article 113(3) as amended by the omnibus, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744. The omnibus left the start date of Article 50 unchanged. It added Article 111(4): providers of AI systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video or text and were placed on the market before August 2, 2026 must comply with the marking duty in Article 50(2) by December 2, 2026.

The omnibus also adds two prohibited practices to Article 5(1), applying from December 2, 2026. Point (ba) covers AI systems that generate or manipulate realistic images, videos, audio or similar material of an identifiable person’s intimate parts, or of that person engaged in sexually explicit activities, without the person’s explicit consent. Point (bb) covers AI systems that generate or manipulate material or performance within the meaning of Article 2(c) and (e) of Directive 2011/93/EU (child sexual abuse material). The ban applies to placing on the market, putting into service and use; Article 5(1a) narrows its scope. A new Article 99(6a) sets each fine under Article 99(4) and (5) for small mid-cap companies (SMCs) at the stated percentage or amount, whichever is lower.

Deadlines have been changed once already, so check the Commission page for the current state.

FAQ

Where can I read the full text? In the Official Journal of the EU (EUR-Lex) as Regulation (EU) 2024/1689. The Future of Life Institute also runs an explorer at artificialintelligenceact.eu.

Last updated: October 7, 2026