The EU AI Act: How Businesses Using AI Can Avoid New Fees
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 25: EU Commissioner for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age - Executive Vice ... More President Margrethe Vestager talks to media about non-compliance investigations against Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on March 25, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. Today, the Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet's rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple's rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta's "pay or consent model". The Commission suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA. ()
Meta and Apple are the first companies to get hit with multi-million fees for breaking the Digital Markets Act. The DMA is a regulation imposed by the European Commission aimed at stopping the largest tech platforms from using unfair practices with third-party providers and consumers' rights. While DMA focuses on promoting a fair competition and avoiding preferential companies serving as gatekeepers, the EU Artificial intelligence Act will affect a multitude of businesses using AI.
The EU AI Act applies to any organization, regardless of location, that markets, uses or benefits from AI systems within the EU. The Act was passed the on August 1, 2024, and will fully come into effect on August 2, 2026. Similar to the General Data Protection Regulation that went into effect in 2018, the EU AI Act demands that businesses identify, monitor and classify the use of AI within their business operations. To avoid hefty fines businesses need to implement the regulation before it fully comes into effect.
The EU AI Act divides AI systems into four risk categories—minimal, limited, high, and unacceptable—each with its own set of obligations. Unacceptable risk systems, such as social scoring or manipulative AI targeting vulnerable groups, are outright banned. High-risk systems, which include AI in critical infrastructure, employment, healthcare, and law enforcement, face strict requirements: pre-market conformity assessments, ongoing monitoring, and mandatory registration in an EU database. This also applies to businesses headquartered outside the EU if their AI systems are accessible to EU users or their outputs are used within the EU.
Non-compliance can result in fines of up to €35 million or 7% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher—paralleling the severity of GDPR penalties. As a new regulation, there are new compliance challenge businesses face:
Businesses must establish robust governance frameworks, document AI system development and deployment, and ensure ongoing risk management.
High-risk systems require clear documentation, human oversight mechanisms, and explainability features.
Companies must ensure the data used to train and operate AI systems is accurate, representative, and secure.
Compliance is not a one-off exercise; it requires ongoing monitoring and reporting throughout the AI system's lifecycle.
Governance platforms and compliance partners focus on helping any business, from enterprises to startups, to monitor, identify, classify and ensure that AI is built in accordance to the new EU AI Act.
Most services include an AI governance platform designed to help businesses achieve and maintain EU AI Act compliance. Some services may include:
The first step before engaging with a compliance partner is to check how the EU AI Act may affect your business or department. While governance platforms are providing their own compliance checkers, the Future of Life non-profit provides a free to use EU AI Act compliance checker that may help you identify areas in need of compliance.
Once there is clear identification of risk areas, working with a compliance partner or governance platform will help ensure compliance readiness ahead of the deadline. They offer a blend of technology, expertise and strategic guidance—helping organizations assess risk, implement controls, foster a culture of responsible AI and remain resilient in the face of new regulation.
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