EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act 

On 1^st August 2024, the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act comes into force, with most of its provisions kicking in two years later. Rushed through the EU approvals process just ahead of the EU elections in June, it is the world’s first major, comprehensive law on AI.

A milestone in protecting EU citizens from the dangers of AI and a gold standard for other countries to follow? Another innovation-hampering piece of Brussels bureaucracy that will further slow down European tech companies? Or both? Probably only time will tell.

However, what we can already say about the AI Act is that it is:

• Large and complex: with 113 articles, 180 recitals and even a risk threshold based on 10 ²⁵ FLOPS of computing power, there is a lot to digest and the full implications of the Act will only become clear over a number of years
• Powerful: with fines up to the greater of EUR 35 mio or 7% of a company’s global annual turnover, the AI Act doesn’t lack teeth
• Important: the AI Act isn’t just the first of its kind but also it also comes with broad extraterritorial scope – it’s applicable to any type of AI on the EU market or whose output is used in the EU

For better or worse, whether you are developing or just deploying an AI system, whether you are in the EU or not, the AI Act won’t be something you can ignore.

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