An unprecedented law to regulate AI comes into force in the EU

The new law of the European Union (EU) to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), a legislation unprecedented in the world, came into force with the aim of promoting innovation in Europe and limiting possible abuses of this new technology.

“Today the Artificial Intelligence Law comes into force,” he wrote Ursula von der Leyenthe President of the European Commission, on the social network X.

Its about “Europe’s pioneering framework for innovative and safe AI“, added the leader of the executive arm of the 27-member bloc.

Von del Leyen said the new regulation “will boost the development of AI that Europeans can trust.” “It will provide support to European SMEs and start-ups to bring cutting-edge AI solutions to market,” she continued.

Most of the legislation will apply from 2026, but some provisions will become binding as early as next year.

The standard takes a “risk-based” approach and imposes limitations on various AI systems that are proportional to the dangers they pose to society.

Systems that present only limited risk will be subject to very light transparency obligations, while High-risk devices, such as those used in critical infrastructure, education, human resources or law enforcement, will be subject to enhanced requirements before being authorised.

These requirements will include, for example, human control, the establishment of technical documentation or the implementation of a risk management system. Bans will be rare and will concern applications that are contrary to European values, such as citizen rating systems or mass surveillance used in China.

The new regulation was adopted by the 27 EU Member States on 21 May after being adopted by the European Parliament with a large majority.

EU lawmakers reached agreement on this text in December, after difficult negotiations in which some countries, such as Francethey feared excessive regulation that would threaten the development of this sector.