Overview
On February 21, 2024, the Commission Decision Establishing the European AI Office (Decision) entered into force and the European Artificial Intelligence Office (EU AI Office) was formally established. The EU AI Office will support the implementation and enforcement of the soon-to-be formally adopted European Union’s Regulation laying down harmonized rules on artificial intelligence (EU AI Act). To this aim, the EU AI Office will collaborate with the European Commission and EU Member States’ national competent authorities. In addition, it is entrusted with tasks aiming at fostering the development and use of trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and facilitating international cooperation.
The EU AI Office is part of the administrative structure of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT).
The Decision details the tasks and functions that the EU AI Office is entrusted with, which include:
- Supervision and enforcement concerning rules outlined in the EU AI Act on General Purpose AI models (GPAI), i.e., AI models that display significant generality and are capable of competently performing a wide range of distinct tasks, regardless of their market placement, such as Large Language Models.
- Development of tools, methodologies, and benchmarks for the evaluation of GPAI, in particular for very large GPAI with systemic risks.
- Assistance to the European Commission in the preparation of its decisions, delegated acts, guidance, guidelines, and standardization requests.
- Support the implementation of the EU AI Act rules regarding prohibited AI practices and high-risk AI systems, in coordination with bodies responsible for specific EU sectoral legislation that intersect with the EU AI Act.
- Facilitation of the uniform application of the EU AI Act, including drawing up codes of practices and codes of conduct at the EU level.
In light of the above considerations, it is evident that the EU AI Office will have an active role in implementing and enforcing the EU AI Act. Actors across the AI value chain must closely monitor the EU AI Office’s activity to stay up to date with guidelines, decisions, delegated acts, and potential infringement proceedings in relation to the EU AI Act.
