AI Act Compliance
Navigating the AI Act: Key Requirements and Compliance Measures
At NEON, we provide comprehensive legal support to help businesses navigate the complex regulatory, ethical, and operational challenges of AI. From development to procurement, deployment, and use, we advise on every stage of the AI lifecycle, ensuring compliance, minimizing risks, and maximizing value.
Key Requirements and Compliance Measures
As of February 2, 2025, the first provisions of the EU AI Act came into force, specifically addressing AI literacy obligations (Article 4) and the prohibition of certain AI practices (Article 5). Businesses must ensure compliance with these foundational requirements while preparing for the broader regulatory framework that will follow.
Prohibited AI Practices (Article 5)
The AI Act explicitly bans certain AI applications that pose unacceptable risks, including:
- AI systems that deploy subliminal techniques to manipulate behavior in a way that causes harm.
- Social scoring systems that evaluate individuals based on personal characteristics.
- Biometric categorization systems used to infer sensitive personal attributes such as race, political opinions, or religious beliefs.
- Predictive policing applications that assess individuals’ likelihood of committing crimes based solely on profiling or past behaviors.
Businesses developing AI solutions must ensure that their systems do not fall into these prohibited categories, as violations may result in severe penalties.
AI Literacy Requirements (Article 4)
From February 2, 2025, companies involved in the development, deployment, and use of AI must take steps to enhance AI literacy within their organizations. This includes:
- Training programs for employees to understand AI capabilities, risks, and regulatory obligations.
- Internal guidelines to ensure responsible AI use aligned with ethical and legal principles.
- Documentation requirements to demonstrate compliance with AI literacy obligations when requested by regulatory authorities.
Next steps for Businesses
To comply with the AI Act’s initial requirements, companies should:
- Review existing AI applications to confirm compliance with the prohibition on certain AI practices.
- Establish AI literacy programs to ensure employees are informed about AI-related risks and regulatory expectations.
- Develop internal compliance documentation to demonstrate adherence to the AI Act’s early provisions.
- Monitor ongoing legislative developments to prepare for future regulatory phases.
At NEON, we support businesses in navigating the evolving AI regulatory landscape, ensuring compliance with the AI Act while fostering responsible AI development and deployment.