EU bodies agree ban on ‘nudification’ apps
The EU Council and European Parliament have provisionally agreed to a new measure in the EU’s AI Act that bans AI systems that generate non-consensual sexual and intimate content or child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The provision was part of a deal reached on a European Commission proposal, known as the Digital Omnibus on AI, aimed at streamlining some of the rules on the technology.
The ban on generating such images applies to:
- Placing AI systems on the EU market with the purpose of creating such content,
- Placing them on the EU market without reasonable safety measures to prevent such creation, and
- Deployers using these systems for the purpose of creating such content.
Companies will have until 2 December 2026 to bring their systems in line.
Standards and support measures
Under the agreement, rules for AI systems used in certain high-risk areas – including biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, migration, asylum, and border control – will apply from 2 December 2027.
For systems integrated into products such as lifts or toys, the rules will apply from 2 August 2028.
The dates have been delayed to ensure that necessary standards and support measures, needed to clarify the application of the rules, are in place.
MEPs and member states also aged to reduce the grace period for providers to implement transparency solutions for artificially generated content from six months (under the commission’s proposal) to three months, with the new deadline set for 2 December 2026.
Role of AI Office
The deal also clarifies the competences of the AI Office for the supervision of AI systems based on general-purpose AI models where the model and that system are developed by the same provider, by listing exceptions where national authorities remain competent.
These include law enforcement, border management, judicial authorities, and financial institutions.
The EU’s co-legislators also agreed a compromise aimed at avoiding overlapping requirements for AI in machinery products.
These products will need to comply only with sectoral safety rules (instead of both the AI Act and sectoral rules), with safeguards that ensure an equivalent level of health and safety.
‘Vital protection’
Welcoming the deal, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke said that the package struck a balance by simplifying and clarifying the AI Act, while maintaining “clear and predictable” safeguards.
Minister of State with responsibility for AI Niamh Smyth particularly welcomed the explicit prohibition on so-called ‘nudification’ apps that generate non-consensual intimate images and CSAM.
“Ireland, alongside fellow member states, was a strong and determined advocate for this vital protection,” she stated.
The provisional agreement now needs to be formally adopted by both the parliament and EU Council before it can enter into law.
Both bodies say that they intend to adopt it before 2 August.