Tag: news

4 timelines of implementation of the AI Act

On By marlenawachLeave a comment

On 10 June 2025, the European Parliament published an “At a Glance” factsheet detailing the implementation timeline of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), the world’s first comprehensive AI regulatory framework. The document sets out the Act’s history, purpose, core provisions and, above all, the staggered schedule by which its requirements will enter into force across the European Union.

Background and Purpose

The AI Act was formally adopted by the European Parliament on 13 March 2024 and published in the Official Journal on 12 July 2024, entering into force twenty days later (1 August 2024). It establishes a risk-based regulatory regime for AI systems, dividing them into “unacceptable,” “high,” “limited” and “minimal” risk categories. Its overarching goal is to ensure that AI deployed in the EU is safe, transparent and respectful of fundamental rights, while fostering innovation across the single market.

What the Factsheet Includes

The factsheet serves as a concise guide to:

  • History & Purpose: tracing the AI Act from proposal (April 2021) through political agreement (December 2023) to adoption and entry into force.
  • Key Provisions: outlining definitions (Chapter I), prohibited practices (Chapter II), high-risk system rules (Chapter III), general-purpose AI obligations (Chapter V) and enforcement mechanisms (Chapter IX).
  • Staggered Implementation Steps: detailing when each set of rules becomes applicable, culminating in full effectiveness by 2027.

Timeline of Implementation

  • 2 February 2025
    • Chapters I (general provisions) and II (prohibited AI practices) enter into force.
    • European Commission publishes non-binding guidelines on prohibited practices, clarifying, for instance, bans on social scoring, predictive policing and real-time biometric identification in public spaces.
  • 2 May 2025
    • Completion of the Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI (GPAI) models—covering large language models and other foundation models—either by industry consensus or, failing that, EU Commission intervention.
  • 2 August 2025
    • Entry into force of:
      • Designation of notified bodies and authorities for high-risk AI systems;
      • Obligations for GPAI model providers (governance, transparency, technical documentation, incident reporting);
      • Penalties regime (excluding fines specific to GPAI models);
      • Confidentiality requirements in post-market monitoring.
  • 2 February 2026
    • Commission issues guidelines on the classification rules for high-risk AI systems (Article 6), providing practical examples and clarifying Annex III criteria.
  • 2 August 2026
    • General application date for the remainder of the AI Act, including fines for GPAI model breaches and all high-risk system requirements in Annex III—except Article 6(1), which has a later deadline.
    • By this date, national authorities must be fully empowered to enforce the Act across Member States.
  • 2 August 2027
    • Entry into force of Article 6(1) (classification rules for high-risk AI systems embedded into regulated products) and Annex I obligations, marking the completion of the Act’s phased rollout.

Significance and Next Steps

This staggered approach balances the need for rapid prohibition of the most dangerous uses of AI with practical lead times for industry, regulators and Member States to adapt. Over the next two years, stakeholders must:

  1. Audit and Classify all AI systems and GPAI models in use (2 February 2025)
  2. Develop Compliance Frameworks: risk management, documentation, human-oversight mechanisms and AI literacy programs for personnel (2 February 2025)
  3. Engage with Guidelines: monitor Commission publications and standardization efforts (e.g., CEN-CENELEC harmonized standards due end-2025).

By 2 August 2027, the EU will have achieved a fully operational, risk-based AI regulatory regime, setting a global precedent for trustworthy AI governance.

Implementation timeline factsheet (PDF, European Parliament):
“The timeline of implementation of the AI Act” (At a Glance series, June 2025)
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2025/772906/EPRS_ATA%282025%29772906_EN.pdf

Poland Eyes Crypto Hub Status as Coinbase Grapples with Illinois BIPA Lawsuit

On By marlenawachLeave a comment

Coinbase Faces Class-Action over Biometric Privacy

On May 13, 2025, three Illinois residents—Scott Bernstein, Gina Greeder and James Lonergan—filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Coinbase, alleging that its Know-Your-Customer (KYC) identity-verification processes violate the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). They claim that by requiring users to upload a government-issued photo ID and a selfie, then routing those images through third-party facial-recognition vendors (including Jumio, Onfido, Au10tix and Solaris) without first providing written notice or obtaining informed consent, Coinbase “wholesale[ly] collects […] faceprints” in clear breach of BIPA’s disclosure and consent provisions.

Moreover, the plaintiffs assert that Coinbase has never published a retention schedule or guidelines for permanently destroying biometric identifiers, another express requirement under BIPA. They further allege that over 10,000 individual arbitration demands over the same issue were dismissed after Coinbase allegedly refused to pay American Arbitration Association fees, effectively sidestepping those users’ claims. The suit seeks statutory damages of $5,000 per willful or reckless violation, $1,000 per negligent violation, injunctive relief, and reimbursement of litigation costs.

Poland’s Opportunity to Become a Crypto Hub

Meanwhile, in Katowice at the European Economic Congress, President of Binance Poland, argued that Poland is no longer a “niche” player but on track to become a major European crypto hub. Polish crypto-asset users numbered around 3 million just last year and may now exceed 4 million—remarkably close to the roughly 5 million retail brokerage accounts in the country—underscoring widespread adoption and public openness to digital-asset innovation.

Yet, Poland remains one of the few EU member states yet to implement local legislation to transpose the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation into national law. By integrating robust legal compliance for exchanges and crafting forward-looking domestic rules, Europe’s crypto ecosystem—including Poland—can both protect users and retain innovation in an increasingly competitive global landscape.