Question 1

What is the EU AI Act?

Accepted Answer

The EU AI Act is the European Union's first comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence. It sets rules for how AI systems can be developed, deployed, and used — with stricter obligations for higher-risk uses such as recruitment, credit scoring, education, and essential services. Full enforcement begins on 2 August 2026.

Question 2

Does the EU AI Act apply to UK businesses?

Accepted Answer

Yes — if your AI systems are used by, or have an impact on, individuals in the European Union, the Act applies to you regardless of where your business is based. In practice this means most UK businesses with EU customers, EU staff, or EU-based users fall within scope.

Question 3

What happens if I don't comply by 2 August 2026?

Accepted Answer

Non-compliance can lead to fines of up to €15 million or 3% of global annual turnover (whichever is higher) for breaches of deployer and transparency obligations, with the most serious prohibited-use breaches attracting penalties of up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover.

Question 4

How long does the compliance checker take?

Accepted Answer

Approximately 2 minutes. The checker asks 8 plain-English questions about how your business uses AI, your EU exposure, and your current policies — no documents or payment required.

Question 5

What do I get after completing the checker?

Accepted Answer

You receive a personalised risk report on screen and by email, showing your EU AI Act risk level and the recommended Clausely compliance pack for your business. You can act on it immediately or save it for later.

Question 6

Can’t I just use ChatGPT or Claude to write my own compliance documents for free?

Accepted Answer

You can — the same way you could represent yourself in court. But here’s what that approach misses. AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude don’t know your specific business, your AI use cases, your data flows, or which risk category the EU AI Act places you in. They’ll produce something that looks like a compliance document. Whether it actually covers you legally is another question entirely.

Clausely starts with a structured risk assessment that determines your actual obligations first. Your documents are then generated against that specific profile — not a generic template. They reference the correct articles of the EU AI Act, reflect your business’s risk level, and are structured the way regulators expect to see them. If you’re ever investigated, “I asked ChatGPT” is not a defence. A tailored, dated, signed document that demonstrates genuine compliance awareness is.

Question 7

What did the Digital Omnibus political agreement (May 2026) actually change?

Accepted Answer

The Digital Omnibus political agreement reached in May 2026 narrowed and clarified scope in several places, eased some technical compliance burdens for general-purpose AI providers, and pushed the substantive obligations for most Annex III high-risk AI systems to December 2027. What it did not change: the Article 4 AI literacy obligations, the Article 50 transparency obligations, the prohibited-use rules, and the governance and documentation expectations that bite from 2 August 2026. For UK SMEs deploying AI tools, the baseline policy framework you need is essentially unchanged — only the deadline for high-risk system technical conformity has moved.

Question 8

Has the high-risk AI deadline really moved to December 2027? What is still due in August 2026?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the political agreement pushes the substantive technical and conformity obligations for most Annex III high-risk AI systems to December 2027, giving providers more time to complete conformity assessments and CE marking. However, transparency obligations (Article 50), AI literacy obligations (Article 4), prohibited-use rules, governance structures, and the documentation expected of deployers all remain due from 2 August 2026. In practice the policy framework — Acceptable Use, AI Literacy, Article 50 disclosures, oversight SOPs, vendor registers — must be in place before August 2026 even if you are also a high-risk system provider with a 2027 conformity deadline.

Question 9

Does the Digital Omnibus mean we can wait until 2027 to act?

Accepted Answer

No. The Omnibus extended one specific deadline — substantive conformity for most Annex III high-risk systems — to December 2027. It did not extend the 2 August 2026 enforcement date for transparency, literacy, governance, or deployer documentation. If your business uses AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, an internal copilot, an AI chatbot, AI-assisted recruitment or marketing), the obligations that apply to you almost certainly bite in August 2026, not 2027. Waiting risks both regulatory exposure and PI questionnaire failure at renewal.

Question 10

What actually counts as a “high-risk” AI system under Annex III?

Accepted Answer

Annex III lists categories of AI systems treated as high-risk because of where they are used, not because of the underlying technology. These include AI used in: biometric identification and categorisation; critical infrastructure (water, gas, electricity, transport); education and vocational training (admissions, grading, proctoring); employment (recruitment, CV screening, performance evaluation, task allocation, termination); access to essential private and public services (credit scoring, insurance pricing, benefits eligibility, emergency dispatch); law enforcement, migration and border control; and administration of justice and democratic processes. If your AI sits in any of these workflows — even if it only assists a human decision — you are likely a high-risk deployer.

Question 11

Does the EU AI Act still apply to UK businesses post-Brexit?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Act applies extraterritorially. A UK business is in scope if it places an AI system on the EU market, if the output of its AI system is used in the EU, or if it employs or serves people in the EU or EEA. Brexit did not remove EU regulatory reach over UK businesses whose AI touches EU users, staff, or customers — much as UK GDPR continues to interact with EU data protection law for cross-border processing.

Question 12

What happens if our business misses the 2 August 2026 deadline?

Accepted Answer

Enforcement begins immediately on 2 August 2026 — there is no grace period for transparency, literacy, governance, and deployer obligations. National regulators (in the UK, the ICO and sector regulators acting in cooperation with EU authorities) can investigate, request your documentation, and refer matters for fines. Penalties reach €15 million or 3% of global annual turnover (whichever is higher) for breaches of deployer and transparency obligations, and €35 million or 7% of global turnover for the most serious prohibited-use breaches. PI insurers are already asking for documented AI policies at renewal; missing the deadline can affect cover as well as expose you to enforcement.

EU AI Act compliance checker: is your business ready?

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EU AI Act compliance checker — your questions answered