What is the EU AI Act, and which systems does it cover?
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 regulates artificial intelligence by risk: a short list of prohibited practices, a defined set of high risk systems with duties before and after placing on the market, transparency duties for systems that interact with people or generate content, and no new duties for everything else.
This answer differs by jurisdiction — see EU, US, SE, NO and DE below.
The answer per jurisdiction
EU
The regulation applies to providers and deployers, including providers outside the Union whose output is used inside it. Prohibitions and general provisions apply first, with the high risk obligations phased in on the dates in Article 113.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 · Europeiska unionens publikationsbyråUnited States
No federal act. Colorado has adopted a duty of reasonable care against algorithmic discrimination for high risk systems, and other states regulate specific uses such as hiring and biometric data.
Colorado SB24-205 · Colorado General AssemblySweden
The regulation applies directly. National market surveillance authorities are designated by the member state and enforce alongside the data protection authority.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 · Europeiska unionens publikationsbyråNorway
Norway takes the regulation in through the EEA agreement, with national designation of the supervisory authorities.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 · Europeiska unionens publikationsbyråGermany
Germany applies the regulation directly and designates federal market surveillance, with data protection supervision unchanged at state level.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 · Europeiska unionens publikationsbyrå
Sources
- Article 5: prohibited practices, including social scoring by public authorities and certain biometric categorisation.
- Article 6 with Annex III: the classification of high risk systems, including employment, credit, education and essential services.
- Article 50: transparency where a system interacts with people, generates synthetic content or produces deep fakes.
What it means for the company
Classify each system by role and by use before you budget: the same model is a low duty tool in one workflow and a high risk system in another, and the duty follows the use.
| Jurisdiction | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| EU | Risk tiers, duties by role, phased application dates | Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 |
| United States | No federal act, duty of care in Colorado and use specific state laws | Colorado SB24-205 |
| Sweden | Direct application with a designated market surveillance authority | Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 |
| Norway | Applies through the EEA agreement | Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 |
| Germany | Direct application with federal market surveillance | Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 |
What it means for the individual
You must be told when you are interacting with an AI system and when content is generated, and a high risk decision about you carries a right to an explanation.
Sources
- EU Artificial Intelligence ActRegulation (EU) 2024/1689 · Europeiska unionens publikationsbyrå · read 2026-08-24 · proof 65fbf44893c17a0dOfficial source
- Colorado Artificial Intelligence ActColorado SB24-205 · Colorado General Assembly · read 2026-08-24 · proof 65fbf44893c17a0dOfficial source
- General Data Protection RegulationRegulation (EU) 2016/679 · Europeiska unionens publikationsbyrå · read 2026-08-24 · proof 65fbf44893c17a0dOfficial source
Next step
Map your systems against Annex III first, because that list decides whether the heavy obligations apply at all.
The page reports what the sources say, with identifier and address to the publisher. It is not legal advice and does not assess an individual matter.
Next step
Three ways to put the register to work in your own practice.
Start with your task
Litigation
Find support in a judgment
Search guiding decisions, see what became final and follow changes in the law.
In-house, deals
Map the rules in a transaction
Move from theme to act and on to the article that carries the duty.
Compliance
Assess the risk in a process
Risk scoring per legal area, with the sources behind every score.