Brussels, July 6: The European Union will proceed with the rollout of its landmark artificial intelligence regulations as planned, the European Commission said on Friday, rejecting calls from major tech firms and governments to delay implementation.
The EU’s AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, came into force earlier this year and lays out a staggered timeline for compliance. The Commission made clear that those deadlines remain intact.
“There is no stop the clock. There is no grace period. There is no pause,” Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters at a press briefing. “We have legal deadlines established in a legal text.”
Some provisions of the law have already taken effect as of February. Obligations for general-purpose AI models will apply starting in August 2025, while rules for high-risk AI systems are set to begin in August 2026.
The statement comes in response to growing pressure from U.S. tech giants including Alphabet’s Google and Meta, along with European firms such as French startup Mistral and Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML, who have warned that the legislation could impose heavy compliance costs and stifle innovation.
Despite those concerns, the Commission said it remains committed to enforcing the regulation on schedule, while also working to ease certain administrative burdens for smaller firms. “We are looking at proposals to simplify our digital rules by the end of the year,” Regnier said, pointing to potential reductions in reporting obligations for small companies.
The AI Act aims to place strict controls on high-risk uses of AI across sectors such as healthcare, transportation, and law enforcement, while also regulating the most powerful general-purpose models. It forms a central part of the EU’s broader digital agenda and efforts to set global standards in a field currently dominated by the United States and China.
