EU AI Act

What applies when

The Digital Omnibus (formally adopted June 2026) changed the dates, and the market has been conflating them ever since. The rule that matters most for your website, Article 50 transparency, was not deferred. The high-risk obligations were. Here is the accurate sequence.

1. 1 Aug 2024In forceRegulation 2024/1689

   The Act entered into force

   Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 became law. Obligations phase in on the dates below.

2. 2 Feb 2025In forceArticle 5

   Prohibited practices banned

   Article 5 prohibitions are enforceable: manipulative AI, government social scoring, untargeted facial-image scraping, certain real-time public biometric identification, and workplace/education emotion inference. These apply now.

3. 2 Aug 2025In forceChapter V

   GPAI obligations + national authorities

   General-purpose AI model obligations apply, and national competent authorities are active. Systemic-risk models face added duties (red-teaming, incident reporting, cybersecurity).

4. 2 Aug 2026UpcomingArticle 50

   Article 50 transparency obligations apply

   The deadline that did NOT move. Users must be told when they are interacting with an AI system (chatbots, assistants); AI-generated content and deepfakes must be labelled; people must be informed when subject to emotion recognition or biometric categorisation. Almost entirely a website and customer-facing obligation.

5. ~2 Dec 2026UpcomingArticle 50(2)

   Watermarking grace period ends

   The grace window for marking pre-existing generative-AI content as machine-detectable closes around this date.

6. 2 Dec 2027Deferred toAnnex III

   Annex III high-risk obligations apply

   Deferred from 2 August 2026 by the Digital Omnibus. Full obligations for standalone high-risk systems (employment/HR, credit and essential services, biometrics, education, critical infrastructure, and more): risk management, data governance, human oversight, logging, conformity assessment. Conformity takes 6 to 12 months, so preparation starts well before this date.

7. 2 Aug 2028Deferred toAnnex I

   Annex I embedded high-risk obligations apply

   High-risk AI embedded in regulated products (medical devices, machinery, automotive, aviation) gets the longest runway, also deferred under the Omnibus.

Dates reflect the Digital Omnibus, formally adopted by the Council on 29 June 2026 and entering into force on publication in the Official Journal. This is general information, not legal advice. Verify against your specific circumstances with qualified counsel. See our disclaimer.