Does the EU AI Act apply to my UK business?
It can, even if you have no office in the EU. Answer five questions for an indicative answer, then see which rules would apply and when, including the changes made by the 2026 AI Omnibus.
Check your business
Your answers stay in your browser. Nothing is sent to us unless you use the enquiry form further down.
0 of 5 answered
Why
What would apply and when
An indicative answer based on Article 2 of the EU AI Act, not legal advice.
Who the Act covers
Article 2 reaches providers placing AI on the EU market wherever they are based, deployers established in the EU, and providers and deployers outside the EU whose AI output is used in the EU. What you have to do depends on your role.
Provider
Develops an AI system, or has one developed, and puts it on the market or into service under its own name. Most of the obligations fall here.
Deployer
Uses an AI system in a professional capacity. A UK firm using AI to serve EU customers is usually a deployer.
Importer and distributor
An EU business placing on the market an AI system under a non-EU company's name is an importer. Others in the supply chain who make it available in the EU are distributors.
UK providers of high-risk AI systems must appoint an authorised representative in the EU before making those systems available there. Research, personal non-professional use, military and national security uses and some open-source releases fall outside the Act.
Key dates after the AI Omnibus
The AI Omnibus, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, moved the high-risk deadlines back, added two new bans and gave generative systems already on the market longer to mark their content. Dates that have passed are in grey.
The AI Act enters into force.
Banned practices and the AI literacy duty apply.
Rules for general-purpose AI models and the penalty regime apply.
The AI Omnibus, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, enters into force after publication on 24 July 2026.
Most remaining provisions apply, including the duty to tell people when they are interacting with an AI.
New bans on AI that creates non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material. Generative systems already on the market before 2 August 2026 must mark AI-generated content by this date.
High-risk rules apply to stand-alone systems listed in Annex III, such as AI used in hiring, credit scoring and education.
High-risk rules apply to AI in products covered by EU product safety law in Annex I, such as machinery and medical devices.
What the fines can be
Each maximum is the higher of the two figures. For SMEs and start-ups it is the lower, and small mid-cap companies also get the lower figure except for banned practices.
For banned practices, of worldwide annual turnover.
For breaching most other obligations, including the high-risk rules.
For giving incorrect or misleading information to authorities.
And in the UK?
The UK has no equivalent to the EU AI Act. The government has said it will legislate when it is confident that is the right thing to do, and meanwhile regulators such as the ICO, FCA and CMA apply five principles in their own sectors. UK GDPR and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 apply whenever AI uses personal data.
If the Act applies to you
Start with an inventory of your AI uses, check none is banned, take steps on AI literacy and work out whether any use is high-risk. Then plan for the transparency rules and, where needed, the 2027 and 2028 deadlines.
If it doesn't
You still need to control what staff put into AI tools and how AI-assisted decisions about people are checked. A staff AI policy is the quickest first step.
EU AI Act questions
Does the EU AI Act apply to UK companies?
It can. Article 2 covers providers that place AI systems on the EU market wherever they are based, and providers and deployers outside the EU where the output of their AI system is used in the EU. A UK business using AI only for UK customers and UK staff is generally outside it.
We only use ChatGPT or Copilot internally in the UK. Does it apply?
Generally not, as long as you have no EU establishment using AI and the output isn't used in the EU. UK law still applies, including UK GDPR whenever personal data goes into AI tools, so you still need a staff AI policy.
Doesn't Brexit mean EU law no longer applies to us?
Not for this Act. It applies according to where AI is placed on the market and where its output is used, not where the company is based, in the same way that UK companies selling to EU customers follow EU product rules.
When do the main rules start?
Banned practices and AI literacy have applied since 2 February 2025, and rules for general-purpose AI models since 2 August 2025. Most other provisions apply from 2 August 2026. After the 2026 AI Omnibus, high-risk rules apply from 2 December 2027 for stand-alone systems and 2 August 2028 for AI in regulated products.
What did the 2026 AI Omnibus change?
Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 was published on 24 July 2026 and came into force on 27 July 2026. It delayed the high-risk rules, softened the AI literacy duty, added bans on AI that creates non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, gave generative systems already on the market until 2 December 2026 to mark their content and extended some support for SMEs to small mid-cap companies.
What does the AI literacy duty mean now?
Providers and deployers must take measures to support AI literacy among staff and others using AI on their behalf. Since the Omnibus, they don't have to guarantee a particular level for each person. In practice, that means training and awareness you can show you have provided.
What are the fines?
Up to €35 million or 7% of worldwide annual turnover for banned practices, €15 million or 3% for most other breaches and €7.5 million or 1% for misleading information to authorities, whichever is higher. For SMEs and start-ups, the lower of the two figures applies, and small mid-cap companies also get the lower figure except for banned practices.
Do we need a representative in the EU?
Providers based outside the EU must appoint an authorised representative in the EU before making a high-risk AI system available there, and the same applies to providers of general-purpose AI models. Deployers don't need one.
Is the checker legal advice?
No. It gives an indicative answer based on Article 2 of the Act. The scope has exceptions, for example for research and personal use, and the details of your products matter. Talk to a lawyer before relying on it.
Ask us about the EU AI Act
Tell us what you sell or use AI for, and where your customers are. We'll reply to arrange a call at a time that suits you, and we'll say if your question needs a lawyer.
You'll speak to Phil or Alex
Vu's founders. Whoever replies stays with your project throughout.