What is the EU AI Act?
Also known as: AI Act, KI-Verordnung
The EU AI Act is the European Union regulation that classifies artificial-intelligence systems by risk level and imposes obligations, from documentation and human oversight to transparency and evidence, according to that level. It applies to organizations that deploy AI in the EU regardless of where the AI vendor is based, which is why compliance teams must inventory and risk-classify every AI system in use, not only the ones from a single vendor.
The EU AI Act is risk-based: the higher the risk a system poses, the heavier the obligations on the organization deploying it. That framing matters for governance because obligations attach to how a system is used, not to which vendor supplied it.
The practical consequence is that compliance cannot stop at Microsoft Copilot. Every AI system in use, including OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, and in-house agents, has to be inventoried, risk-classified, and documented. The Act turns “which AI are we running” from a curiosity into a compliance question with a deadline.
