EU AI Act: what applies now vs. what got deferred
The obligation-by-obligation ledger
Law-firm memos explain this in prose; here is the same content as a dated ledger you can audit row by row. "Original date" is the AI Act as adopted in 2024; "current date" reflects Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (the "Digital Omnibus on AI", Official Journal July 24, 2026, in force July 27, 2026).
| Obligation | Article | Original date | Current date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prohibited AI practices (social scoring, manipulative AI…) | Art. 5 | 2025-02-02 | unchanged | In force |
| AI literacy duty for providers & deployers | Art. 4 | 2025-02-02 | unchanged | In force |
| General-purpose AI model obligations | Ch. V | 2025-08-02 | unchanged | In force (enforcement powers from 2026-08-02) |
| Chatbot / AI-interaction disclosure | Art. 50(1) | 2026-08-02 | 2026-08-02 | In force, no grace period |
| Machine-readable marking of AI-generated content | Art. 50(2) | 2026-08-02 | split | New systems: now · pre-Aug-2026 systems: 2026-12-02 |
| High-risk AI systems, standalone (Annex III) | Ch. III | 2026-08-02 | 2027-12-02 | Deferred |
| High-risk AI embedded in regulated products (Annex I) | Ch. III | 2027-08-02 | 2028-08-02 | Deferred |
Instrument for every deferral row: Regulation (EU) 2026/1744. Sources for each row: Morgan Lewis (Aug 2026) · White & Case · K&L Gates (Jul 31, 2026) · European Commission · DLA Piper (Aug 2025).
The one everyone gets wrong: Article 50(2) is a split, not a deferral
Widely-repeated summaries say the content-marking duty "moved to December 2026." That is only half true. The grace period to December 2, 2026 covers only AI systems placed on the market before August 2, 2026. A system launched today must ship machine-readable marking of AI-generated content from day one. If you build on a third-party API, this lands on you as deployer — it is not just the model provider's problem.
The practical companion is the Commission's final Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content, published June 10, 2026 — a voluntary compliance tool for exactly these Article 50 duties (EC announcement, Jones Day summary).
Penalties in force today
Article 50 breaches have been enforceable since August 2, 2026: up to €15 million or 3% of total worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher — for SMEs, whichever is lower (Article 99(4)). In Germany, the market-surveillance authority is live: the KI-MIG implementing act entered into force July 29, 2026, and the Bundesnetzagentur (competence centre "KoKIVO") has been the central AI supervisor since August 2, 2026 (Bundesnetzagentur).
Why this ledger lives on an AGI-timeline site
Because the two clocks are now officially out of sync. The AGI-2027 thesis says transformative capability arrives around 2027; the EU just moved its high-risk compliance clock to December 2027 and August 2028 — i.e., Europe's rulebook for high-risk AI now becomes fully enforceable after the window in which the strongest capability forecasts expect near-transformative systems. Whether that is prudent flexibility or regulatory lag depends on which side of the capability bet turns out right — which is exactly what the scorecard measures.
Dates to watch next
- 2026-12-02 — the Art. 50(2) grace period for pre-August-2026 systems ends; from this day every system in scope must mark AI-generated content.
- 2027-12-02 — high-risk Annex III obligations become applicable.
- 2028-08-02 — high-risk Annex I (product-embedded AI) obligations become applicable.
- Any further Omnibus — the deadlines moved once; if they move again, this ledger's rows change and the "Last updated" line above will say so.
Frequently asked questions
Partially — and that split is the confusion. The transparency duties (Article 50: chatbot disclosure, deepfake labelling) apply since August 2, 2026. But the Digital Omnibus on AI (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, in force July 27, 2026) deferred the high-risk obligations: standalone high-risk systems (Annex III) to December 2, 2027, and product-embedded AI (Annex I) to August 2, 2028.
Yes — since August 2, 2026, with no grace period, unless it is obvious to a reasonably informed user that they are interacting with AI. This applies to deployers building on third-party APIs, not just model providers. Non-compliance risks fines up to €15 million or 3% of worldwide turnover (Article 99(4)).
Three moves, all made by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744: high-risk Annex III obligations moved from August 2, 2026 to December 2, 2027; high-risk Annex I (product-embedded) moved to August 2, 2028; and the Article 50(2) machine-readable marking duty got a grace period to December 2, 2026 — but only for systems already on the market before August 2, 2026. New systems must comply immediately.
Up to €15 million or 3% of total worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher (for SMEs, whichever is lower), under Article 99(4) — applicable to Article 50 breaches since August 2, 2026.
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