09 December 2023
The EU Council and Parliament reached provisional agreement on the AI Act on Friday.
According to the official press release, the key changes from the original proposal are:
🔹 Rules on high-impact general-purpose AI models that can cause systemic risk in the future, as well as on high-risk AI systems
🔹 A revised system of governance with some enforcement powers at EU level
🔹 Extension of the list of prohibitions but with the possibility to use remote biometric identification by law enforcement authorities in public spaces, subject to safeguards
🔹 Better protection of rights through the obligation for deployers of high-risk AI systems to conduct a fundamental rights impact assessment prior to putting an AI system into use
Next steps…
🔹 Technical work will continue over the coming weeks to finalise the details of the regulation
🔹 The EU Presidency will then submit the text to Member States for endorsement
🔹 The Council and COREPER (Committee of Permanent Representatives of Governments of the EU Members States) will then be asked to confirm the text
🔹 After legal and linguistic review, the final version will go forward for formal adoption by the Parliament and Council
The regulation is currently expected to apply two years after entry into force, but some aspects may be given longer.
So there's still some way to go, but there is no doubt that a huge milestone has been reached in regulating AI in the EU and beyond…