EU AI Act Amended: Deadlines Extended, SME Relief Added, New Content Bans Set
The EU Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement on May 7, 2026 to amend the EU AI Act, introducing several substantive changes for businesses. High-risk AI systems under Annex III now have until December 2, 2027 to comply, a 17-month extension, while systems tied to product safety legislation get until August 2, 2028. However, transparency obligations such as watermarking and content labelling have been tightened, with providers given until December 2, 2026 to comply. The amendments also expand compliance relief to 'small mid-cap' companies with fewer than 750 employees or under €150 million in turnover, and introduce a new EU-level regulatory sandbox with priority access for smaller firms. A new explicit ban on AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery and child sexual abuse material has also been added under Article 5, though the agreement still requires formal adoption before August 2, 2026 to take effect.
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