The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have now reached agreement on the Digital Omnibus on AI. Some of the key points are as follows:
Fixed deadlines for obligations:
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2 December 2026 – transparency obligations relating to AI created material enter into force (although systems which come onto the market from 2 August 2026 will have to comply straight away).
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2 December 2027- obligations for standalone high risk systems enter into force.
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2 August 2028 – obligations for high risk systems embedded in products (e.g. toys and medical devices) enter into force.
The requirement to register exempt high risk systems will be retained.
The use of special category data for bias detection and correction will be subject to strict necessity and a list of further conditions.
AI literacy requirements are retained but softened, requiring organisations to support AI literacy rather than ensure it.
Introduction of measures aimed at reducing overlap between the AI Act and sectoral legislation.
Some SME exemptions will be extended to small mid-cap companies.
The creation of non consensual intimate content and child sexual abuse content will be prohibited.
The legislation now needs to be formally adopted, which the legislators have indicated they will do before 2 August 2026.
The agreed text can be found here
