EU Parliament Adopts AI Act

Earlier this week, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) cast their votes in favor of the much-anticipated AI Act. With 523 votes in favor, 46 votes against, and 49 abstentions, the vote is a culmination of an effort that began in April 2021, when the EU Commission first published its proposal for the Act.

Here's what lies ahead:

• Language finalization: Before the Act can officially become law, it will undergo a review by lawyer-linguists (referred to as the corrigendum procedure). This step aims to identify and correct errors in the text and ensure that numeration and references (to both internal and external sources) are correct before the text's publication in the Official Journal of the EU ("OJ").

• Council approval: The Act is next set to move to the Council of the EU for its formal, final endorsement, which is expected to take place in April.

• Implementation and impact: The AI Act will officially enter into force 20 days after its publication in the OJ. The Act's provisions on prohibited AI practices will apply six months following the Act's entry into force, while the provisions on general-purpose AI models will apply six months thereafter. Other provisions will apply later, primarily two and three years after the Act enters into force.

The adoption of the AI Act represents a key moment in the global discourse on how best to regulate AI technologies. It coincides with efforts in other jurisdictions to support the development of safe AI, including the Biden Administration's Artificial Intelligence Executive Order and a battery of regulatory initiatives in China.

The formal adoption of the Act is not the end of the regulatory process. Member States will need to appoint national competent authorities to oversee its implementation in their jurisdictions, while the Commission must issue guidelines to help regulated actors interpret and apply a large number of provisions. Stay tuned for further updates as the AI Act progresses through its final stages.

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The Covington team continues to monitor developments on the AI Act, and we regularly advise the world's top technology companies on their most challenging regulatory and compliance issues in the EU and other major markets. If you have questions about the AI Act, or other tech regulatory matters, we are happy to assist with any queries.