EU's Landmark AI Act: First Comprehensive AI Law to Regulate Use, Impose Penalties

The Act bans certain uses of AI, restricts law enforcement's use of AI biometrics, and creates a new body for enforcement.

European Union lawmakers have reached a provisional deal on the Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive AI law, which will regulate the use of AI in sectors such as healthcare, education, border control and public services.
The Act bans the use of AI in the development of biometrics or facial recognition systems that use sensitive characteristics and blocks companies from scrapping data from surveillance devices to develop AI-based facial recognition systems.
Law enforcement can only use AI biometric identification systems in publicly accessible spaces and are strictly limited from deploying AI face scanners, except in the event of a manhunt for a person convicted or suspected of having committed a serious crime.
The AI Act creates a new body, the European AI Office, to oversee compliance, implementation and enforcement. Noncompliant companies could face penalties ranging from 1.5% to 7% of their global revenue.
The final version of the Act is still being negotiated and is expected to be released by February 2024, with the law not coming into effect until at least 2025.