AI Act: rules take effect

This deadline has passed: the main provisions and new transparency requirements became applicable on 2 August 2026. Specific high-risk-system duties follow their own transition schedule.

The AI Act enters into application in stages, so one date does not activate every obligation at once. The important shift is from voluntary principles to legal requirements for documentation, transparency, risk assessment and oversight; each system category must be checked against the Commission's current timeline.

Sources

European CommissionOpen primary source