When does EU AI Act enforcement start?
The EU AI Act applies in stages. The AI literacy duty in Article 4 has applied since 2 February 2025. The Act's governance bodies and the penalty regime, run through national authorities, apply from 2 August 2026, which is when meaningful enforcement of these obligations begins to bite.
The Act entered into force in 2024 and switches on in phases rather than all at once. Prohibited-practice rules and the AI literacy obligation came first, in February 2025. The wider supervision and penalty machinery follows.
From 2 August 2026 the enforcement and penalty provisions apply, which is why organisations are treating that date as the point by which their AI literacy and governance need to be demonstrably in place, with evidence they can show.
The duty itself has been live since February 2025. Weak AI literacy is expected to count against an organisation in enforcement once the penalty regime applies from 2 August 2026, so preparing now is the safe course.
EU AI Act: Article 4 AI literacy in application since 2 February 2025; governance and penalty provisions apply from 2 August 2026 (European Commission).