EU AI Act Timeline: Key Dates and Deadlines

See also our full guide to the EU AI Act for the context behind each date.

1 August 2024: AI Act enters into force

Status: already applies.The EU AI Act formally becomes law, starting the phased timeline for when its various rules take effect. Entry into force itself doesn't yet create concrete obligations for most businesses: it marks the start of the rollout.

2 February 2025: AI literacy and prohibited practices

Status: already applies.From this date, providers and deployers of AI systems must take measures to support the development of AI literacy among their staff and others operating AI on their behalf. The obligation doesn't require guaranteeing any particular level for any individual. At the same time, the ban on a short list of particularly intrusive AI practices takes effect, including social scoring and certain manipulative techniques.

2 August 2025: General-purpose AI and governance

Status: already applies.Rules for providers of general-purpose AI models become applicable, alongside the Act's governance structure, including the national and European authorities responsible for overseeing the rules.

27 July 2026: The Digital Omnibus amendments take effect

Status: already applies.Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the “Digital Omnibus on AI”, entered into force on this date and amended the AI Act directly. It is what sets the current high-risk dates further down this page. Articles 102 to 110 of the AI Act also began to apply from this date.

2 August 2026: Transparency obligations

Status: applies now. Certain AI systems must make it clear that people are dealing with AI, and AI-generated or manipulated content (including deepfakes) must in certain cases be labelled. These rules sit in Article 50, and the Digital Omnibus did not change the substance of Article 50 or move this date. Read the full breakdown on our transparency obligations page.

2 December 2026: New prohibitions, and a labelling deadline

Status: upcoming. Two prohibitions added by the Digital Omnibus start to apply on this date, covering AI systems that generate non-consensual intimate imagery or child sexual abuse material. Separately, generative AI systems that were already on the market before 2 August 2026 have until this date to meet the machine-readable marking requirement in Article 50(2).

2 December 2027: Most high-risk AI systems

Status: enacted, applies from this date.Requirements for most high-risk AI systems — standalone systems under the Act's Annex III, such as employment and credit scoring — apply from 2 December 2027. Under the AI Act as originally published, these fell under the general date of 2 August 2026. The Digital Omnibus replaced that position: this is enacted law, not an expectation.

2 August 2028: High-risk AI in regulated products

Status: enacted, applies from this date.High-risk AI systems covered through the Act's Annex I — AI in products already regulated under other EU law, such as medical devices — apply from 2 August 2028. The original text set 2 August 2027; the Digital Omnibus replaced it.

2 August 2030: Public-authority legacy systems

Status: upcoming. Providers and deployers of high-risk AI systems intended for use by public authorities, already placed on the market or put into service before the high-risk rules apply, must take the necessary steps to comply by this date.

Where these dates come from

The original timetable is in Article 113 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689. The current dates for high-risk systems, and the new 2 December 2026 obligations, come from Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI) of 8 July 2026, published in the Official Journal on 24 July 2026, which replaced parts of Article 113 through its Article 1(40) and added a new Article 111(4). Where this page distinguishes the original position from the current one, that is the reason.

What could still change?

The dates above are those in force. Implementation detail — further guidance, harmonised standards, delegated acts — may still follow, and we update this page as official changes are published.

Sources

• EU AI Act (artificialintelligenceact.eu)
• European Commission (regulatory framework for AI)

This page is general information, not legal advice. Prepared and reviewed by Complaia.