# What is the EU Artificial Intelligence Act?

> The EU Artificial Intelligence Act — Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — is the bloc’s risk-based law for AI systems, banning some uses outright and imposing graded obligations on high-risk systems, general-purpose models, and deployers.

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## Content

The Act tiers obligations by risk: prohibited practices (such as social scoring and most real-time biometric identification in public); high-risk systems requiring risk management, data governance, human oversight, and conformity assessment; transparency duties for systems like chatbots and synthetic content; and lighter rules for minimal-risk uses. Obligations phase in from 2025 onward, with separate duties for providers, deployers, and general-purpose AI model makers.

### Key points

- **Use-based classification:** The same model can be minimal-risk in one use and high-risk in another — obligations follow the system’s use, not the technology label.
- **Phased application:** Bans and general-purpose AI duties came first; high-risk system obligations follow later — the applicable dates depend on the organization’s role as provider or deployer.
- **Important limitation:** The AI Act regulates AI systems and their market placement, not general cybersecurity. It interacts with GDPR, DORA, the CRA, and sector rules — compliance with one does not satisfy the others, and much of the practical detail still depends on harmonized standards and guidance.

### Related terms

[AI risk management](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/ai-risk-management/>) · [AI security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/ai-security/>) · [General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/general-data-protection-regulation-security/>) · [Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/cyber-resilience-act/>) · [NIS2 Directive](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/nis2-directive/>)

### Sources

[EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (Artificial Intelligence Act)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj) · [European Commission, AI Act](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai)

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