European Union: Entry into force with grace period of AI Act including quality of service requirements for "high-risk" AI systems

On 1 August 2024, the regulation laying down harmonised rules on Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) enters into force, 20 days following its publication in the Official Journal, with a grace period on its implementation. The AI Act is based on a risk-based management approach and establishes obligations for providers and users depending on the level of risk generated by the AI system, namely an "unacceptable" risk, "high-risk", and "low or minimal" risk. The Act requires providers to conduct an impact assessment on fundamental rights before deploying a high-risk AI system and making it available on the market. Furthermore, providers and deployers of certain AI systems, such as those intended to directly interact with natural persons, biometric categorisation or emotional recognition systems, and content generation or manipulation systems, are subject to additional transparency requirements. The Act is generally implemented on 2 August 2026 after the lapse of the grace period, though some sections are subject to variable implementation periods. Chapters I and II apply from 2 February 2025, Chapter III Section 4, Chapter V, Chapter VII, Chapter XII, and Article 78 apply from 2 August 2025, and Article 6(1) applies from 2 August 2027.