The EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (the "AI
Act") is the world's first comprehensive legislation aimed
at regulating the development and use of AI. It uses a risk-based
approach, classifying AI systems by risk levels and focusing on
their intended use. Although the AI Act is generally set to take
effect on 2 August 2026, a first set of provisions (general
provisions and prohibited practices) is applicable starting from 2
February 2025. A next set of provisions will become applicable per
2 August 2025.
Definition of an AI system, at the core of regulation
AI systems are defined as (i) machine-based systems, (ii)
designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy, (iii) that may
exhibit adaptiveness after deployment, and (iv) that, for explicit
or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to
generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or
decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.
