The EU AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024. Transition periods have begun, including requirements for AI literacy and prohibitions on specific AI systems from 2 February 2025.

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. 

We can help. We advise and train the public sector and enterprise, across the AI value chain, on AI regulations and legal risk.  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.

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