What the Data Shows
EU AI Act milestones are measured as months from the Act’s entry into force on 1 August 2024. The timeline uses five official application dates from entry into force through high-risk AI rules embedded in regulated products. Most AI Act rules and transparency obligations come into application after 24 months, on 2 August 2026. The selected milestone frame keeps the baseline, early obligations, GPAI/governance timing, the 24-month rules date and the 48-month regulated-products date visible on the graphic.
Data table
Unit: months from entry into force · Period: 2024-2028
| Rank | Entry | Value | Period |
|---|
| 1 | AI Act entered into force | Entry | 2024-08 |
| 2 | Prohibited practices and AI literacy | 6 months | 2025-02 |
| 3 | GPAI and governance rules | 12 months | 2025-08 |
| 4 | Most rules and transparency obligations | 24 months | 2026-08 |
| 6 | High-risk AI embedded in regulated products | 48 months | 2028-08 |
Sources
Source 1: European Commission
Publisher: European Commission
Dataset/table: Application timeline and risk-based approach
Units: dates
Date checked: 2026-05-24
Evidence: Supports EU AI Act risk categories and current application timeline dates.
Source 2: European Commission AI Act Service Desk
Publisher: European Commission AI Act Service Desk
Dataset/table: AI Act timeline
Units: dates
Date checked: 2026-05-24
Evidence: Supports the official progressive implementation structure for the AI Act.
Data notes & caveats
Dates follow the European Commission AI Act pages used in the research brief. The December 2027 milestone reflects the Commission timeline used in the source trail. Visual timeline is limited to five selected official dates for mobile SVG legibility; the 40-month Annex III high-risk areas date remains source-backed but is not rendered in this compact timeline refresh.
Methodology
Milestone month counts are counted from 1 August 2024 to the listed application date and rounded to whole calendar months. This refresh limits the timeline renderer payload to five milestones to preserve readable labels at story size.
Source consistency notes
All visual milestones use European Commission sources and the same months-from-entry measurement basis.
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