Guides & analysis
Plain-English explainers on the EU AI Act — who it affects, what you have to do, and when each obligation takes effect.
Article 50 disclosure template: copy-paste texts for the EU AI Act
Ready-to-use disclosure wording for every Article 50 duty — the chatbot notice, AI-generated content and deepfake labels, and the emotion-recognition notice — aligned with the Commission's July 2026 guidelines, with the placement rules that make them compliant.
EU AI Act AI literacy (Article 4): what your company actually has to do
Article 4 is the EU AI Act obligation almost every company already has. The Digital Omnibus softened it in July 2026, and national supervision has been running since early August. Here is what it requires and what counts as compliance.
Is your AI a "safety component" under the EU AI Act?
The Article 6(1) product route is the high-risk door that catches manufacturers. The Digital Omnibus narrowed it twice — by defining what is not a safety component, and by moving machinery out of the AI Act's full high-risk regime.
Is there an SME exemption in the EU AI Act? What small companies actually get
There is no size exemption in the EU AI Act — but there are six concessions for SMEs, and the Digital Omnibus added a new 'small mid-cap' tier. Here is what each one gives you, which articles they sit in, and why most of them only help if you build high-risk AI.
Who enforces the EU AI Act? The authorities, and what changed on 2 August 2026
Enforcement of the EU AI Act started on 2 August 2026. Here is who actually enforces it — the AI Office, your national market surveillance authority, and the EDPS — how a complaint reaches them, and why not every Member State is ready.
Does the EU AI Act apply to companies outside the EU?
Yes, it can — establishment is not the test. The exact Article 2(1) routes that catch a non-EU company, a worked in-or-out table (US SaaS, free tiers, group companies, offshore scoring), the exclusions that actually work, and the EU-representative duty most providers discover last.
EN 18286 is published: the first AI Act harmonised standard, and what it does not give you yet
EN 18286:2026 is published — but not yet cited in the Official Journal, so it gives no presumption of conformity today. What the standard covers, how it differs from ISO/IEC 42001, the three SME concessions in the Omnibus, and exactly what to start this quarter.
2 December 2026: the EU AI Act deadline most companies have not noticed
Two things land on 2 December 2026: the marking grace period ends for generative AI that was on the market before 2 August 2026, and two new Article 5 prohibitions take effect. Check which side of both you are on — most compliance calendars list neither.
What happens when the Commission investigates your AI model — the new procedural rules, in force since 10 August 2026
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1755 took effect on 10 August 2026. It sets out what access the Commission can demand to a general-purpose AI model, how it appoints evaluators, your right to be heard, and a five-year limitation period for fines. Here is what it actually says.
Is AI training mandatory under the EU AI Act?
Short answer: no — the EU AI Act does not mandate a specific AI training course. It requires you to support AI literacy through proportionate measures — and the Digital Omnibus (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744) just made that even clearer. Here is what you actually have to do.
The EU AI Act for fintech: credit scoring and creditworthiness AI
AI that scores creditworthiness is high-risk under the EU AI Act — with one important carve-out for fraud detection. Here is what that means for lenders, credit-scoring providers, and insurers, and when it applies.
The EU AI Act in Germany: KI-MIG and the Bundesnetzagentur
The EU AI Act applies directly in Germany — but Germany still needs its own law to name the authorities and set the fines. That law is the KI-MIG, and the Bundesnetzagentur is the authority to know. Here is what applies and who enforces it.
The EU AI Act for HR & recruitment software
AI used to screen, rank, or manage candidates and employees is high-risk under the EU AI Act. Here is what that means for HR-tech providers and for the employers who deploy them — the obligations, who is responsible, and the (now-deferred) deadline.
EU AI Act fines: how much can your company be penalized?
The EU AI Act's penalties run up to €35 million or 7% of worldwide turnover. Here is the full fine structure — which breaches cost what, who enforces it, the lighter caps for SMEs, and when it all took effect.
EU AI Act Article 50: the transparency rules — what you must disclose, and by when
Article 50 is the part of the EU AI Act that reaches almost every company using AI — chatbots, AI-generated content, deepfakes. Here is exactly what you must disclose, who is responsible, and the two dates that matter: 2 August 2026 and 2 December 2026.
Has the EU AI Act high-risk deadline been delayed to 2027?
The Digital Omnibus moves the high-risk AI obligations off 2 August 2026 — to 2 December 2027 for stand-alone systems and 2 August 2028 for embedded products. Here is what changed, what still applies on 2 August 2026, and what it means for your planning.
Is your AI system “high-risk” under the EU AI Act?
High-risk is the tier where the EU AI Act's real obligations and largest fines live. Here is the actual test from Article 6 and Annex III — the two ways in, the exception most companies miss, and worked examples.
EU AI Act timeline: every deadline from 2025 to 2028
The EU AI Act doesn't apply all at once. Here is the phased timeline as amended by the Digital Omnibus — prohibitions in 2025, GPAI rules, transparency in 2026, high-risk in December 2027, embedded products in 2028 — and what each date means.
Which EU AI Act obligations apply to your company?
A plain-English guide to working out your EU AI Act obligations: your role (provider, deployer, importer, distributor) and your AI's risk tier decide what you have to do.