EU AI Act amendment revises high-risk compliance dates

On 24 July 2026, the EU published Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the Digital Omnibus on AI. It entered into force on 27 July and amended the AI Act's implementation timetable. Chapter III, Sections 1-3 now apply from 2 December 2027 for Annex III high-risk systems and 2 August 2028 for high-risk systems covered by Annex I, subject to the Article 6(5) exception.

This does not postpone all AI Act duties. The Commission's implementation timeline retains 2 August 2026 for Article 50 transparency rules. Certain providers of systems generating synthetic content that were placed on the market before that date have until 2 December 2026 to comply with Article 50(2).

Privacy and AI-governance teams should map each system's classification and provider or deployer role to the applicable provisions. Update compliance plans by obligation, rather than moving the entire programme to one later date; transitional rules for existing systems also need checking.