European lawmakers have moved to postpone critical compliance deadlines for the EU AI Act, the bloc's landmark legislation designed to regulate artificial intelligence. Alongside these delays, parliamentarians have also endorsed proposals to introduce a ban on "nudify" applications.
The measures, which received overwhelming approval from the European Parliament, will push back the compliance timelines for developers of "high-risk" AI systems. These are defined as systems posing a "serious risk" to health, safety, or fundamental rights, and their developers will now have until December 2027 to comply. Companies crafting AI systems already governed by sector-specific safety regulations, such as those for toys or medical devices, will benefit from an even longer extension, with a proposed deadline of August 2028. Furthermore, rules mandating providers to watermark AI-generated content will be deferred until November 2026. All these provisions were originally slated to become effective in August of this year.
Members also backed proposals to incorporate a ban on "nudify" apps into the revised AI Act. While specific details on the implementation of this ban remain undefined, it is noted that it "would not apply to AI systems with effective safety measures preventing users from creating such images." This decision follows widespread public outrage across the EU earlier this year concerning the proliferation of sexualized deepfakes generated by Grok on X.
This vote extends a period of regulatory uncertainty for businesses operating within Europe, which have already encountered previous delays due to the EU missing its own deadlines for publishing key guidance and altering aspects of the law. It also remains unclear whether these proposed changes can be enacted before the original August deadline, as the Parliament lacks the unilateral authority to amend European law. The Parliament must now enter negotiations with the European Council, an institution comprising ministers from all 27 member states, to finalize the text.
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