An updated version of the flowchart (August 2024) is available here.

The EU AI Act has been approved by EU Parliament and Council. The act will be published in the EU’s Official Journal in the coming days and enter into force twenty days after this publication.   After that, transition periods begin, including prohibitions after 6 months and high-risk obligations after 12 months, with most provisions in force after 24 months.

Consequences for non-compliance may be significant, with fines of up to €35m or 7% of global annual turnover, regulatory investigations, and market withdrawals.

Organisations looking to develop, deploy, procure and sell AI systems need to now consider how to navigate the AI Act. That applies to organisations inside and outside the EU. Navigating the EU AI Act is not straightforward; there are many areas that are open to interpretation or require guidance.

We have published a one-page flowchart decision-tree to help navigate the AI Act as enacted.

It identifies the key decisions to be considered and references the relevant sections of the AI Act text. Of course, users should legal advice on how the AI Act applies to their specific circumstances. But we hope the flowchart is a useful starting point for structuring how they approach the AI Act and identifying areas for further discussion.

Organisations may find that they have to navigate the EU AI Act as well as regulations in other jurisdictions. How they comply with those regulations (and other relevant laws) may look very different to their approach to complying with the EU AI Act.

Engaging with anticipated regulation early is therefore essential; organisations may have to change their business model, product offering, technical processes and, in any event, approach to governance and compliance. 

If you would like to discuss how current or future regulations impact what you do with AI, please contact Tom Whittaker, Brian Wong, Lucy Pegler, Martin Cook, Patrick Parkin or any other member in our Technology team.