EU AI Act Implementation Timeline & the December 2, 2027 Deadline
The EU AI Act phases in over four years. This page tracks each milestone, what's already in force, and what's coming next.
EU AI Act Implementation Timeline & the December 2, 2027 Deadline
The EU AI Act phases in over four years. This page tracks each milestone, what's already in force, and what's coming next.
Countdown to High-Risk Enforcement
December 2, 2027 — Annex III Obligations
Already in Force
Regulation Enters Into Force
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 entered into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, starting the phased application timetable that runs to 2028.
Prohibited Practices + AI Literacy
Article 5 prohibitions (social scoring, manipulative AI, untargeted scraping for facial recognition databases) and Article 4 AI literacy obligations apply since this date.
GPAI Provider Obligations
General-purpose AI model providers must comply with documentation, copyright, and (for systemic-risk-tier models) additional risk-mitigation obligations.
Article 50 Transparency Obligations
Disclosure that a user is interacting with an AI system, machine-readable marking of synthetic content, and deepfake labelling. Not deferred by the Digital Omnibus on AI.
Upcoming Deadlines
High-Risk AI Obligations (Annex III)
Full compliance required for stand-alone Annex III high-risk AI systems: risk management, data governance, technical documentation, logging, human oversight, and conformity assessment. Deferred from August 2, 2026 by the Digital Omnibus on AI.
Embedded AI in Regulated Products
AI systems that are safety components of products under existing EU sectoral legislation (medical devices, vehicles, machinery) reach full applicability. Deferred from August 2, 2027 by the Digital Omnibus on AI.
What did the omnibus change?
The Digital Omnibus on AI entered into force on July 27, 2026, deferring Annex III high-risk obligations to December 2, 2027 and Annex I embedded-product obligations to August 2, 2028. Article 50 transparency was not deferred and has applied since August 2, 2026. Read our full omnibus take.
Continue exploring the EU AI Act guide
EU AI Act Compliance Guide
The complete guide to EU AI Act compliance for AI agents — start here.
Article 12 — Record-Keeping & Logging
What every high-risk AI system must log, and how to capture it.
Article 14 — Human Oversight
Designing effective human-in-the-loop controls for AI decisions.
Annex III — High-Risk AI Systems
Which AI use cases the Act classifies as high-risk.
EU AI Act Compliance Checklist
A step-by-step checklist to reach and document compliance.
Compliance Cost Calculator
Estimate your EU AI Act compliance effort and cost.
Fines & Penalties
Penalty tiers up to €35M or 7% of global annual turnover.
Transparency Obligations (Art. 13 & 50)
Disclosure duties for AI systems and their outputs.
Risk Management & Conformity Assessment
Build a risk management system and assess conformity.
GPAI Obligations
Rules for providers of general-purpose AI models.
EU AI Act for US Companies
Extraterritorial scope and what US providers must do.
Omnibus Update
The latest changes to the EU AI Act timeline and rules.
Penalty Calculator
Estimate your maximum fine under the Article 99 tiers.
Article 11 + Annex IV
What technical documentation the EU AI Act requires.
Article 26: Deployer Obligations
What deployers of high-risk AI must do, including log retention.
Article 17: Quality Management
The QMS providers of high-risk AI must document.
Article 10: Data Governance
Data quality, bias mitigation, and governance duties.
Article 4: AI Literacy
The staff AI-literacy duty in force since February 2025.
Deployer vs Provider
Who bears which obligation — and when a deployer becomes a provider.
FRIA (Article 27)
Who must run a Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment, and how.
Who Does It Apply To?
Scope, operators, and the extraterritorial reach of the EU AI Act.
Post-Market Monitoring
Articles 72–73: ongoing monitoring and incident reporting.
ISO 42001 vs EU AI Act
How the voluntary standard and the binding law fit together.
NIST AI RMF vs EU AI Act
A practical crosswalk between the framework and the law.
EU AI Act for Healthcare
High-risk medical AI, MDR/IVDR interplay, and clinician oversight.
EU AI Act for Financial Services
Credit scoring, insurance pricing, and existing financial regulation.
EU AI Act for HR & Employment
Hiring AI as high-risk, plus NYC LL144 and EEOC overlap.