The European Union took a major step in reshaping its landmark artificial intelligence legislation on June 29, 2026, when the Council of the EU gave final approval to a regulation simplifying and streamlining the bloc’s AI Act.
The measure, part of the EU’s Omnibus VII legislative package, makes two sweeping categories of changes: extended deadlines for high-risk AI compliance, and new prohibitions on AI-generated non-consensual intimate content.
Deadlines Pushed Back
Under the original Artificial Intelligence Act, companies using standalone high-risk AI systems – including tools for recruitment, credit scoring, law enforcement, education, and border control – faced a compliance date of August 2, 2026. The Omnibus regulation moves that deadline to December 2, 2027, giving affected businesses more than 16 additional months.
High-risk AI embedded in regulated physical products, such as medical devices, industrial machinery, and vehicles, gains a one-year extension: from August 2, 2027 to August 2, 2028.
Transparency obligations are not extended. Requirements to disclose when users interact with an AI system and to label AI-generated content remain in force with an August 2, 2026 deadline.
New Ban on Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery
The regulation adds a prohibition absent from the original AI Act: a ban on AI systems used to generate or manipulate non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material. The rule applies to providers whose systems could reasonably foreseeably and reproducibly produce such content without significant technical modification. General-purpose image and video tools face active risk assessment requirements under the new provision.
The ban takes effect December 2, 2026.
Why the Revision
The Omnibus revision reflects sustained pressure from European industry and member states who argued the original timelines were too tight for widespread compliance, and could weigh on EU competitiveness as global AI development accelerates. The provisional text was agreed between the Council and Parliament in May 2026; the Council’s June 29 vote completes the legislative process.
Legal experts caution that extended deadlines are not a green light to delay. According to Gibson Dunn’s analysis, organizations should treat the extra time as an opportunity to build proper compliance frameworks rather than wait.