On 13 March 2024, the EU’s Parliament plenary vote took place with 523 voting for the legislation and 46 against, with 49 abstentions. The next step, considered a formality, is for the final linguistic approval in April and then the EU AI Act will be published in the Official Journal, coming into effect 20 days thereafter (likely the end of April/May 2024, but certainly before the EU elections in June). Most of the Act’s provisions will become applicable after two years. However, with the Act’s risk-based approach to regulation, the provisions on prohibited use will come into effect by the end of 2024, and full implementation is expected by 2027. For more information see our articles here and here.

It is clear compromise was reached in a number of areas, and there are still questions about the use of AI in the defence sector, but today is a day to celebrate the world’s first AI legislation aimed at “putting a clear path towards a safe and human-centric development of AI”. For more analysis of the detailed provisions be sure to come back and check our AI hub and blog in the coming weeks.