EUROPEAN STANDARDS AND THE EU AI ACT: THE PATH TO COMPLIANCE
The European Union’s (EU’s) Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), which was finally approved by the Council of the European Union on 21 May 2024, aims to provide a harmonised approach for regulating the development, marketing and use of AI systems in the EU. It sets comprehensive and horizontal rules on AI, meaning it applies to all AI technologies (which fall within the definition of an ‘AI system’) and across all industrial sectors.
Despite the UK’s departure from the EU, the AI Act is expected to have a significant impact on UK businesses due to its extraterritorial scope. The legislation seeks to regulate every AI system that affects people in the EU, either directly or indirectly.
The application of the AI Act extends to providers in countries outside the EU that place AI systems or general purpose AI models on the EU market or put AI systems into service within the EU. It also applies to providers and deployers of AI systems outside the EU where the output produced by the AI system is used within the EU.
UK businesses should be aware that although the AI Act will formally enter into force 20 days after being published in the Official Journal of the European Union (which is expected to be in June or July 2024) its substantive requirements will be phased in gradually, with full applicability expected in two years. This means that although businesses have time to prepare for compliance with the AI Act, they should start reviewing the legislation’s applicability to their operations now given the complexity of the requirements.
Jul-Sep 2024 Issue
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP