Fast Facts: How the EU AI Act will Impact Security Technology

Europe led the way in creating the world’s first major privacy regulations with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which transformed the way businesses around the world interact with consumers and manage their data.

Now, the EU is poised to take similar groundbreaking steps with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law, and environmental sustainability are protected from high-risk AI, while continuing to create an environment where Europe innovates and develops AI solutions.

In March 2024, the European Parliament approved the AI Act, paving the way for the legislation to become law later in the year.

“The EU is the first in the world to set in place robust regulation on AI, guiding its development and evolution in a human-centric direction,” said Dragos Tudorache, member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing Romania and the co-rapporteur of the EU AI Act, in a press release. “The AI Act sets rules for large, powerful AI models, ensuring they do not present systemic risks to the Union and offers strong safeguards for our citizens and our democracies against any abuses of technology by public authorities. It protects our SMEs, strengthens our capacity to innovate and lead in the field of AI, and protects vulnerable sectors of our economy.”

The European Parliament and Council still need to formally adopt the EU AI Act for it to become law. It will then enter into force 20 days after being published in the official journal of the EU.

While the act moves forward, we’re looking at the provisions that will most impact the security industry in Europe—and potentially around the world—when it goes into effect.