The AI Act enters into force: industrial AI under EU rules

2024-08-01 · Publisher : Union européenne · Domain : Industry 4.0 & 5.0

Published in the OJ on 12 July 2024, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on artificial intelligence enters into force on 1 August 2024. Its timeline runs from 2025 to 2027; AI systems built into machinery fall under high-risk rules.

### Background Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the **AI Act**, is published in the Official Journal on 12 July 2024 and enters into force on **1 August 2024**. It is the world's first horizontal framework for artificial intelligence, built on a risk-based approach. ### Timeline - **2 February 2025**: prohibited practices and AI literacy obligation (Chapters I and II). - **2 August 2025**: general-purpose AI model obligations and governance. - **2 August 2026**: general application under the original text. - **2 August 2027**: high-risk AI systems embedded in Annex I products (machinery, lifts, medical devices…). This timeline was later amended: the AI omnibus published in July 2026 (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744) pushes high-risk rules to 2 December 2027 (Annex III) and 2 August 2028 (Annex I), and moves machinery to a sectoral approach. ### Why it matters For industry, the key point is Annex I: AI performing a safety function in a machine (protective vision, collaborative robot, maintenance that triggers stops) becomes a high-risk system, with risk management, data quality, logging, human oversight and technical documentation. Engineering offices must fold these requirements into the CE conformity file, alongside the Machinery Regulation. ### Key takeaway The AI Act brings embedded AI into the CE-marking logic: what was a software option becomes a product compliance topic.

Tags : Réglementation, UE, IA, Machines, Normes