What does the EU AI Act require from businesses?+
The EU AI Act imposes differentiated obligations depending on the company's role (provider, deployer, or importer) and the risk category of the system. High-risk systems — in areas such as HR, credit, healthcare, or critical infrastructure — require conformity assessment, technical documentation, registration in the EU database, human oversight, and risk management. Limited-risk systems have lighter transparency obligations. Prohibited applications, such as generalised social scoring or subliminal manipulation, are directly banned.
When does the EU AI Act come into full effect?+
The EU AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024 with a phased application schedule. Prohibited practices apply from 2 February 2025. Obligations for high-risk systems apply in full from 2 August 2026. Penalties for non-compliance can reach €35 million or 7% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher.
What is a high-risk AI system under the EU AI Act?+
The EU AI Act classifies as high-risk AI systems used in eight areas: critical infrastructure, education, employment and worker management, access to essential services (credit, insurance), law enforcement, border management, administration of justice, and democratic processes. Systems that constitute safety components of products regulated by European sectoral legislation are also high-risk. The classification determines the full set of applicable obligations.
What technical documentation does the EU AI Act require for high-risk systems?+
The EU AI Act requires providers of high-risk systems to maintain technical documentation covering: system description and intended purpose, training data and evaluation methodology, performance metrics and accuracy thresholds, human oversight measures, risk analysis and mitigation plans, instructions for use, and a change log. This documentation must be available to supervisory authorities throughout the system's lifecycle.
What fines does the EU AI Act set for non-compliance?+
The EU AI Act sets three penalty levels: up to €35 million or 7% of global annual turnover for using prohibited practices; up to €15 million or 3% of global turnover for breaching other regulation obligations; and up to €7.5 million or 1.5% of global turnover for providing incorrect information to authorities. For SMEs and startups, penalties are calculated on whichever figure — percentage of turnover or fixed amount — is lower.