EU votes to delay AI Act implementation while backing ban on deepfake nude apps

The European Parliament voted by large majority to delay compliance deadlines for the EU AI Act while simultaneously approving a ban on nudify applications. Developers of high-risk AI systems—those posing serious risks to health, safety, or fundamental rights—will now have until December 2027 to comply, while companies developing AI covered by sector-specific safety rules for toys or medical devices face an August 2028 deadline. The dual vote reflects tension between industry demands for implementation time and urgent concerns about harmful applications like deepfake nude generators.

Delay of EU AI Act implementation deadlines

• ▪The European Parliament approved measures to delay EU AI Act compliance deadlines by a large majority
• ▪European lawmakers voted to delay key parts of the EU AI Act
• ▪Compliance deadlines for developers of high-risk AI systems under the EU AI Act would be pushed back until December 2027
• ▪High-risk AI systems under the EU AI Act are those deemed to pose a serious risk to health, safety, or fundamental rights
• ▪Companies developing AI systems covered by sector-specific safety rules like toys or medical devices would have a proposed compliance deadline of August 2028 under the EU AI Act

Ban on deepfake nude apps

• ▪European lawmakers voted to back proposals to ban nudify apps
• ▪The European Parliament approved proposals to ban nudify apps by a large majority

Perspective of AI industry developers

• ▪Technology companies lobbied European lawmakers for extended deadlines to adapt their AI systems to EU AI Act requirements
• ▪AI industry developers argued that the original EU AI Act compliance timelines were too aggressive for implementing required safety measures

Perspective of Digital rights advocates

• ▪Digital rights advocates warned that postponing EU AI Act provisions would extend the period during which harmful AI systems operate without adequate safeguards
• ▪Privacy groups characterized nudify apps as tools for non-consensual intimate image abuse that require immediate prohibition