European Commission Says It Won’t Delay Implementation of AI Act

The European Commission said Friday (July 4) that it will not delay the rollout of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, despite calls from some tech companies that it do so.

The AI Act’s rules will be implemented according to the schedule included in the legislation, Reuters reported Friday, citing comments at a press conference by Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier.

“I’ve seen, indeed, a lot of reporting, a lot of letters and a lot of things being said on the AI Act,” Regnier said, according to the report. “Let me be as clear as possible, there is no stop the clock. There is no grace period. There is no pause.”

The Commission will adhere to the deadlines in the AI Act, including the August 2025 implementation of obligations for general-purpose AI models and the August 2026 launch of obligations for high-risk models, Regnier said, per the report.

Some tech companies had urged the Commission to delay the implementation of the AI Act by years, saying they are concerned about its compliance cost and complexity, according to the report.

In a Friday post on LinkedIn that included a video with some of these remarks, Regnier also wrote that the Commission takes AI companies’ concerns “extremely seriously.”

Regnier added that the commission will address some of these concerns by preparing a Digital Simplification Omnibus package; discussing the timing for the implementation of a Code of Practice, with the end of the year being considered; and setting up an AI Act Serve Desk that will help companies and offer them clear guidance.

He also said in the post that the Commission wants to “provide everything our industry needs to make Europe a leader in AI: infrastructure, data, computing power, talent and, of course, clarity and legal certainty.”

It was reported Thursday (July 3) that some tech companies had cited the Commission’s delay in the publication of its Code of Practice as a reason why the implementation of the AI Act should be delayed.

The General-Purpose AI Code of Practice, which is meant to help companies comply with the AI Act, was originally scheduled to be released in May but may now be delayed until the end of the year.

The AI Act came into force on Aug. 1, 2024, establishing the world’s first comprehensive regulatory framework for AI and setting new compliance standards for businesses worldwide, PYMNTS reported at the time.

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