The EU AI Act timeline, date by date

Every EU AI Act application date with its source: what applied in 2025, what applies from 2 August 2026, and the high-risk dates as amended by the Digital Omnibus in July 2026.

Reviewed by Ameya Sahasrabudhe and Swati Thakur, 2 August 2026

What this page records

This page records every application date of the EU AI Act - Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 - as the dates stand today, including the changes made by the Digital Omnibus on AI in July 2026, with a primary source for each row. It exists because the EU AI Act deadlines a reader finds elsewhere are frequently the original ones: the amendment that moved the high-risk dates entered into force on 27 July 2026, and summaries written before it are stale on exactly the rows that matter. Each date below carries what applies, who it reaches, and the article or regulation it comes from.

12 Jul 2024

The AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, is published in the Official Journal of the European Union

MethodPublication record on EUR-Lex, the EU's official law databaseSampleThe regulation itself; no obligations yet apply to anyonePeriod12 July 2024SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, linked in the sources below

1 Aug 2024

The Act enters into force, on the twentieth day after publication, per Article 113

MethodArticle 113, first paragraph, read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full textSampleThe regulation as a whole; entry into force starts the clocks but imposes no obligations yetPeriod1 August 2024SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 113

2 Feb 2025

Chapters I and II apply: the prohibited AI practices of Article 5 and the AI literacy obligation of Article 4

MethodArticle 113(a), read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full textSampleAll providers and deployers of AI systems in the Act's scopePeriodIn application since 2 February 2025SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 113(a)

2 Aug 2025

Obligations for general-purpose AI model providers (Chapter V), governance (Chapter VII), notified bodies (Chapter III Section 4), penalties except Article 101 (Chapter XII) and confidentiality (Article 78) apply

MethodArticle 113(b), read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full textSampleProviders of general-purpose AI models; member state and EU governance bodiesPeriodIn application since 2 August 2025SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 113(b)

2 Aug 2026

The Act's general application date: everything not given its own date, including the Article 50 transparency obligations; Article 101, under which the Commission can fine general-purpose AI model providers up to 3% of worldwide turnover or EUR 15 million; and Article 57's requirement that every member state have an operational AI regulatory sandbox

MethodArticle 113 second paragraph (general date), Article 113(b)'s exception for Article 101, and Articles 50, 57 and 101, each read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full textSampleAll operators in scope whose systems fall outside the tiers carrying their own dates; general-purpose AI model providers for fines; member states for sandboxesPeriod2 August 2026SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Articles 50, 57, 101 and 113

2 Aug 2027

General-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2 August 2025 must be brought into compliance

MethodArticle 111(3), read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full textSampleProviders of general-purpose AI models already on the market before 2 August 2025PeriodDeadline, 2 August 2027SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 111(3)

2 Dec 2027

Rules for high-risk AI systems in the Act's listed areas - including biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, migration, asylum and border control - apply, as amended by the Digital Omnibus on AI

MethodRegulation (EU) 2026/1744 amending the AI Act, and the European Commission's published timeline of the amended datesSampleProviders and deployers of high-risk AI systems in the areas listed by the Act (its Annex III)PeriodApplies from 2 December 2027; amendment in force since 27 July 2026SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, and the Commission's AI Act policy page, both linked below

2 Aug 2028

Rules for high-risk AI embedded in regulated products - such as lifts or toys, where AI is a safety component under EU product law - apply, as amended by the Digital Omnibus on AI

MethodRegulation (EU) 2026/1744 amending the AI Act, and the European Commission's published timeline of the amended datesSampleProviders of products under the EU harmonisation legislation the Act lists (its Annex I), with AI safety componentsPeriodApplies from 2 August 2028; amendment in force since 27 July 2026SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, and the Commission's AI Act policy page, both linked below

2 Aug 2030

High-risk AI systems intended for use by public authorities that were already on the market before the rules applied must be brought into compliance

MethodArticle 111(2), read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full textSampleProviders and deployers of high-risk AI systems intended for use by public authoritiesPeriodDeadline, 2 August 2030SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 111(2)

31 Dec 2030

AI components of the EU's large-scale IT systems (the Act's Annex X) placed on the market before 2 August 2027 must be brought into compliance

MethodArticle 111(1), read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full textSampleThe large-scale IT systems established by the legal acts listed in Annex X of the ActPeriodDeadline, 31 December 2030SourceEUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 111(1)

Every number on this page, with what it measures, its period and its source
Number	What it measures	Period	Source
12 Jul 2024	The AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, is published in the Official Journal of the European Union	12 July 2024	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, linked in the sources below
1 Aug 2024	The Act enters into force, on the twentieth day after publication, per Article 113	1 August 2024	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 113
2 Feb 2025	Chapters I and II apply: the prohibited AI practices of Article 5 and the AI literacy obligation of Article 4	In application since 2 February 2025	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 113(a)
2 Aug 2025	Obligations for general-purpose AI model providers (Chapter V), governance (Chapter VII), notified bodies (Chapter III Section 4), penalties except Article 101 (Chapter XII) and confidentiality (Article 78) apply	In application since 2 August 2025	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 113(b)
2 Aug 2026	The Act's general application date: everything not given its own date, including the Article 50 transparency obligations; Article 101, under which the Commission can fine general-purpose AI model providers up to 3% of worldwide turnover or EUR 15 million; and Article 57's requirement that every member state have an operational AI regulatory sandbox	2 August 2026	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Articles 50, 57, 101 and 113
2 Aug 2027	General-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2 August 2025 must be brought into compliance	Deadline, 2 August 2027	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 111(3)
2 Dec 2027	Rules for high-risk AI systems in the Act's listed areas - including biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, migration, asylum and border control - apply, as amended by the Digital Omnibus on AI	Applies from 2 December 2027; amendment in force since 27 July 2026	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, and the Commission's AI Act policy page, both linked below
2 Aug 2028	Rules for high-risk AI embedded in regulated products - such as lifts or toys, where AI is a safety component under EU product law - apply, as amended by the Digital Omnibus on AI	Applies from 2 August 2028; amendment in force since 27 July 2026	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, and the Commission's AI Act policy page, both linked below
2 Aug 2030	High-risk AI systems intended for use by public authorities that were already on the market before the rules applied must be brought into compliance	Deadline, 2 August 2030	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 111(2)
31 Dec 2030	AI components of the EU's large-scale IT systems (the Act's Annex X) placed on the market before 2 August 2027 must be brought into compliance	Deadline, 31 December 2030	EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 111(1)

What most published timelines now get wrong

The single most common error, as of the day this page was written, is presenting the Act’s original high-risk dates as current. Under the Act as adopted, high-risk rules were tied to the general application date of 2 August 2026 and to 2 August 2027; under Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 - proposed 19 November 2025, politically agreed 7 May 2026, adopted 8 July 2026, in force 27 July 2026 - the listed-area high-risk rules apply from 2 December 2027 and the product-embedded rules from 2 August 2028. Timelines that predate the amendment, including carefully maintained ones, still showed the original dates when this page was compiled. The dates above are the amended ones, and the amending regulation is in the sources so a reader can check this page the same way this page checked the others.

What this page does not tell you

What the law requires of your company. This is a dated record of when the Act’s parts apply, compiled from the regulation’s own text; it is not a compliance plan, a risk classification of any system, or legal advice, and Foxnut Studios does not provide those - that boundary is stated across the AI consulting pages at Foxnut Studios. The amendment also contains transitional arrangements beyond the headline dates recorded here; where a detail could not be verified against primary text, it was left off this page rather than approximated. For what the phases mean in practice for a company entering Europe, the companion page reads the Act from the operator’s side.

How these dates were compiled

Every row was verified on 29 July 2026 against a primary source, and the method was reading, not citing citations: the dates from the Act itself come from Articles 111 and 113 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, read verbatim in the EUR-Lex full text; the amended high-risk dates come from Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 on EUR-Lex and the European Commission’s AI Act policy page as updated on 27 July 2026. Where a secondary summary and the regulation text could disagree, the regulation text wins. All three sources are linked below, and each record names the specific article its date comes from, so any single row can be re-verified in minutes without trusting this page.

Sources

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