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The AI omnibus enters into force: high-risk rules delayed to December 2027

Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the digital omnibus amending the AI Act, entered into force on July 27, 2026, according to the European Commission.
July 27, 2026
Curated Maximum

What it says

  • The rules for high-risk systems in the sensitive areas of Annex III (biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, migration, justice) will apply from December 2, 2027.
  • Those for high-risk systems embedded in regulated products (Annex I) have a transitional period until August 2, 2028.
  • It adds a ban: systems that generate non-consensual sexually explicit and intimate content or child sexual abuse material, such as “nudify” apps.
  • It strengthens the AI Office, which centralizes oversight of systems built on general-purpose models, and extends some SME simplifications, such as technical documentation, to small mid-cap companies.
  • The rest of the timeline stays the same: the AI Act is generally applicable from August 2, 2026, and from that date the AI Office can exercise its enforcement powers over general-purpose models.

How it has evolved

Thread: Application of the AI Act. How the European AI Act is applied in practice: timeline, amendments, Commission guidelines, Spanish adaptation, and providers' response. Upcoming dates: December 2, 2026 (Article 50.2 marking for systems already on the market) and December 2, 2027 (Annex III high risk).

Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 in the Official Journal (EUR-Lex): eur-lex.europa.eu

The Tech Guardian summarizes and comments in its own words on third-party publications. The full information belongs to the original source, which we recommend you read.

Our take

The delay is not a pardon. If you use AI to select staff or evaluate employees, you have a little over a year to carry out the inventory, risk assessment and human oversight that the regulation will require. And the transparency obligations have applied since August. Use the margin to put what you have in order, not to shelve it.

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