The EU AI Act entered into force on August 1, 2024. The implementation obligations, however, take effect in stages. According to a recent Handelsblatt report, the European Commission plans in a first draft to significantly weaken central requirements. Specifically, implementation deadlines are to be extended and regulatory obligations relaxed so as not to hold back innovation.
For low-risk systems and so-called general-purpose models (GPT-5, for example), the AI Act is already in force. Under the regular schedule, the next implementation phases would have started in August 2026 and August 2027. These deadlines are now to be postponed.
Read more in Handelsblatt: Künstliche Intelligenz: EU will KI-Gesetz deutlich abschwächen
You will find all the key information on the EU AI Act in our continuously updated guide for medical device manufacturers.