On March 13, 2024, the European Parliament (EP) approved the latest draft of the European Union’s (EU) Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). Following this vote, the text will be sent to the Council of the EU (Council) for formal approval, after which the AI Act will officially become law. Once the AI Act starts to apply, it will introduce a swathe of new obligations for companies providing and using AI systems and general-purpose AI (GPAI) models in the EU, subject to hefty fines of up to EUR 35 million or seven percent of the total worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher.Continue Reading The EU AI Act Passes Another Hurdle Towards Becoming Law

On February 2, 2024, a committee of ambassadors from all countries of the European Union (EU) approved the latest draft of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA or the Act). Following weeks of speculation that there could be a blocking minority of EU countries who had concerns about the final text, this vote confirms that the AIA has substantial support within the Council of the EU (Council). This means that the AIA has a good chance to become law within the coming months. For more information about the scope and requirements in the AIA, please see our client alert on last December’s political agreement on the AI Act, available here.Continue Reading The AI Act Just Got One Step Closer to Becoming Law

On December 8, 2023, the EU finally agreed on the world’s first comprehensive legal framework on AI: the AI Act. EU lawmakers reached a political agreement on a series of controversial issues after record-long negotiations. They are expected to formally adopt the agreed text within the next couple of months. If adopted, the AI Act will ban certain AI systems, regulate general purpose AI (GPAI), impose heavy obligations on high-risk AI systems, subject to high fines, and support innovation through regulatory “sandboxes.” The AI Act will have an extraterritorial reach. Being the first law of its kind globally, the AI Act has the potential to establish a benchmark for AI regulation in other regions, just as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has accomplished.Continue Reading EU Lawmakers Reach Political Agreement on the AI Act

The Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) is the first comprehensive legislation that intends to regulate AI horizontally across all sectors in Europe. It will have far reaching consequences on all companies developing, implementing, or using AI solutions in the EU and beyond. These FAQs provide key information you should know before the AI Act is adopted, and some tips on what you can already be doing to prepare. To learn more, please see Wilson Sonsini’s FAQs below.Continue Reading 10 Things You Should Know About the EU Artificial Intelligence Act

On October 12, 2022, the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (see here), giving clarity as to when the new rules will apply. The DMA will enter into force on November 1, 2022, and it will become fully applicable in May 2023. At that point, the gatekeeper designation process will start, and once designated, gatekeepers will have six months to comply with the DMA. This means that the DMA will only be fully enforceable against companies in spring 2024, likely around March.
Continue Reading Formal Publication of the DMA and Timelines for Compliance

EU lawmakers are preparing a new Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA). Timing for adoption remains unclear, but once the AIA enters into force, it will impose strict obligations on providers and users of AI systems. In the meantime, EU regulators have started issuing fines against companies using AI systems on the basis of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For example, the Hungarian privacy regulator recently issued a fine of approximately $680,000 against a bank for non-compliance with GDPR rules in the context of its use of AI software to analyze customer service calls. To learn more about the upcoming legislation, please see Wilson Sonsini’s Fact Sheet below on the current draft AIA.
Continue Reading Increased Scrutiny for AI Systems and Draft AI Legislation in the EU