EU unveils world's first comprehensive proposal to regulate artificial intelligence

The European Commission ("Commission") has introduced the so-called Artificial Intelligence Act ("AIA"), following previous initiatives in the field of Artificial Intelligence ("AI"), which began in 2018 with the Commission's announcement "Artificial Intelligence for Europe" and the subsequent establishment of the High Level Expert Group on AI. The work of this group resulted in a number of recommendations and ethical guidelines adopted by the Commission through the so-called "White Paper on Artificial Intelligence".

During the plenary session on 14th of June 2023, the European Parliament entered into last phase of the interinstitutional negotiations on the final text of the AIA with the Commission and the Council of the European Union in the framework of the so-called Trilogue. As the European legislator has chosen the form of regulation, the AIA will constitute a directly applicable legal act on the territory of the European Union member states, including the Slovak Republic.

Negotiations on the final form of the AIA are currently underway with a view to reaching an agreement by the end of this year. However, we stress that the AIA should not come into force before 2026 therefore we shall continue to follow its developments closely and report on it accordingly.