EU AI Act guide
EU AI Act deadlines: the full application timeline
The EU AI Act applies in staggered waves. The prohibited practices (Article 5) and AI-literacy duty (Article 4) have applied since 2 February 2025; GPAI and governance rules since 2 August 2025; Article 50 transparency obligations apply from 2 August 2026. Under the Digital Omnibus on AI, adopted 29 June 2026, the Annex III high-risk regime was moved to 2 December 2027 (from 2 August 2026) and the Annex I product-embedded high-risk regime to 2 August 2028 (from 2 August 2027). The table below lists every date, what applies on it, and the governing Article.
Last reviewed: 4 July 2026
EU AI Act application timeline with governing Articles
Where the Digital Omnibus moved a wave, the original Regulation date is shown struck through next to the current date.
| Date | What applies | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| 1 August 2024 | Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 enters into force, twenty days after publication in the Official Journal on 12 July 2024. Application follows in waves; no operator duties bite on this date itself. | Art. 113 |
| 2 February 2025 | Prohibited practices (Article 5) become enforceable, meaning the banned practices are now illegal, and the Article 4 AI-literacy duty applies to every provider and deployer for staff dealing with AI systems. | Art. 113(a); Art. 4; Art. 5 |
| 2 August 2025 | General-purpose AI model obligations (Articles 51–56), governance bodies and notified-body provisions (Articles 28–39), and the penalty framework (Articles 99–100) become applicable. | Art. 113(b) |
| 2 August 2026 | Article 50 transparency obligations apply for limited-risk systems: chatbot disclosure, deepfake labelling and machine-readable marking of synthetic content. The Commission's Article 101 fining powers over GPAI model providers also become exercisable. The Omnibus does not move this wave. | Art. 113; Art. 50; Art. 101 |
| 2 December 2026 | The new Article 5 prohibition added by the Digital Omnibus — AI generating non-consensual intimate imagery or child sexual abuse material — applies. The narrow Article 50(2) grandfather for generative systems on the market before 2 August 2026 also expires on this date. | Digital Omnibus (Art. 5; Art. 50(2)) |
| 2 August 2027 | Member States must have at least one operational AI regulatory sandbox (Article 57(1)), moved from 2 August 2026 by the Omnibus. The Article 111(3) compliance deadline for GPAI models already on the market before 2 August 2025 also falls on this date (not moved by the Omnibus). | Art. 57(1); Art. 111(3) |
| 2 December 2027 | The Annex III high-risk regime applies: provider and deployer obligations (Articles 8–27), Article 43 conformity assessment, Article 49 EU-database registration, Article 27 FRIA, and post-market monitoring and incident reporting (Articles 72–73). Moved from 2 August 2026 by the Digital Omnibus. | Art. 113 as amended; Annex III |
| 2 August 2028 | The Annex I product-embedded high-risk regime applies: AI that is a safety component of, or is itself, a product covered by Union harmonisation law requiring third-party conformity assessment (medical devices, machinery and similar). Moved from 2 August 2027 by the Digital Omnibus. | Art. 113(c) as amended; Annex I |
The Digital Omnibus on AI was adopted by both co-legislators (European Parliament 16 June 2026; Council 29 June 2026). The deferred high-risk dates are settled; publication in the Official Journal, expected July 2026, is the only remaining step, and the amending Regulation enters into force on the third day after publication.
To see which of these dates bind your specific system, run the free classifier — it maps your answers to the exact obligations and their deadlines. Run the free classifier.
Frequently asked questions
When does the EU AI Act take full effect?
The Act does not switch on all at once. It entered into force on 1 August 2024 and applies in waves: prohibitions and AI literacy from 2 February 2025, GPAI and governance from 2 August 2025, Article 50 transparency from 2 August 2026, the Annex III high-risk regime from 2 December 2027, and the Annex I product-embedded high-risk regime from 2 August 2028. The last of these is the point at which effectively all substantive obligations are live.
Did the Digital Omnibus delay the EU AI Act?
It delayed the high-risk waves, not the whole Act. The Digital Omnibus on AI, adopted 29 June 2026, moved the Annex III high-risk regime from 2 August 2026 to 2 December 2027 and the Annex I product-embedded regime from 2 August 2027 to 2 August 2028. It did not move the Article 50 transparency deadline, which remains 2 August 2026, and it did not touch the prohibitions or AI-literacy duties already in force since 2 February 2025.
Is the Article 50 transparency deadline still 2 August 2026?
Yes. The Digital Omnibus explicitly leaves Article 50 transparency on 2 August 2026. The only related change is a narrow statutory grandfather: generative-AI systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026 have until 2 December 2026 to comply with the Article 50(2) synthetic-content marking duty.
What applies right now under the EU AI Act?
As the law stands today, the Article 5 prohibitions and the Article 4 AI-literacy duty (in force since 2 February 2025) and the GPAI, governance and penalty rules (in force since 2 August 2025) are all binding. The transparency, high-risk and product-embedded waves have future application dates in 2026, 2027 and 2028 respectively.