Artificial intelligence rules to go ahead, no pause, EU Commission says

The European Union's landmark rules on artificial intelligence will be implemented according to the timeline agreed by legislators and EU countries, the European Commission said on Friday, dismissing suggestions and pressure from some companies and several EU countries for a temporary pause.

"I've seen, indeed, a lot of reporting, a lot of letters and a lot of things being said on the AI act. Let me be as clear as possible, there is no stop the clock. There is no grace period. There is no pause," Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told a press conference.

"We have legal deadlines established in a legal text. The provisions kicked in February, general purpose AI model obligations will begin in August, and next year, we have the obligations for high risk models that will kick in in August, 2026," he said.