The EU has confirmed the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Act, rejecting pressure from more than a hundred tech companies calling for a delay.

The announcement comes despite pressure from more than a hundred tech companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Mistral AI and ASML, which have called on the European Commission to delay implementation of the legislation, arguing that the rules could hamper Europe's competitiveness in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence. The Artificial Intelligence Act is a risk-based regulatory framework designed to govern the use of artificial intelligence within the EU. It divides AI systems according to their potential to cause harm: applications of unacceptable risk - such as social scoring or manipulative behavior targeting individuals - are banned. High-risk uses, including biometric surveillance, facial recognition or the use of AI in education and employment, are subject to strict compliance, registration and quality assurance requirements. Limited-risk systems, such as chatbots, must meet basic transparency standards.