What is the EU AI Act application timeline?

The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) entered into force on 1 August 2024, and its provisions apply in phases through 2027 under Article 113. Key milestones: prohibitions on 2 February 2025, general-purpose AI obligations on 2 August 2025, general application on 2 August 2026, and Annex I high-risk systems on 2 August 2027.

The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) entered into force on 1 August 2024, twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Article 113 of the regulation sets out a phased application across several milestones.

Two milestones have already passed. 2 February 2025: the prohibitions in Chapter II (Article 5) — unacceptable-risk AI practices — began to apply. 2 August 2025: obligations for general-purpose AI models (Chapter V) and several other chapters listed in Article 113(b) began to apply.

2 August 2026: general application of the regulation under Article 113. This includes the obligations for high-risk AI systems listed in Annex III (recruitment, credit scoring, access to essential services, law enforcement, and others) — Articles 9 to 15 and the associated obligations for providers and deployers.

2 August 2027: application of Article 6(1) and its associated obligations — that is, high-risk AI systems embedded in products covered by EU harmonisation legislation (Annex I). For Swiss companies, the EU AI Act applies as soon as they place an AI system on the EU market, or where the system output is used in the EU.

Related Information

  • Entry into force: 1 August 2024 (Article 113)
  • Prohibitions (Article 5): 2 February 2025
  • GPAI obligations (Chapter V): 2 August 2025
  • General application (Annex III high-risk): 2 August 2026
  • Annex I high-risk: 2 August 2027
  • Official reference: Article 113, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689

Expert Insight

Anchor your roadmap to 2 August 2026: that is when the high-risk obligations most organisations will feel start to bite, so inventory and classification work should be finishing, not starting, by then.

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