Does the EU AI Act Apply to Non-EU Companies?

Article 2 sets out who and what the AI Act covers. It applies to providers placing AI systems on the market or putting them into service in the Union, and to providers placing general-purpose AI models on the Union market, regardless of where those providers are established. It applies to deployers established or located in the Union. It can also apply to providers and deployers established in a third country when the output produced by the system is used in the Union. The output-use rule is not a simple website-access test. A non-EU service may be accessible from Europe without every interaction necessarily meeting the relevant scope condition; facts about the provider, deployment, system output, and use matter. Conversely, routing processing through servers outside Europe does not automatically avoid scope when output is used in the Union. Importers, distributors, product manufacturers placing a system under their own name, and authorized representatives have separate listed roles. A company can hold more than one role depending on its conduct. Article 2 includes exceptions, including for certain systems and activities related to military, defence, or national-security purposes, personal non-professional use by deployers, and specific research and development circumstances. These exceptions are conditioned and should not be generalized. The Regulation also has special rules for public authorities in third countries using systems under international law-enforcement or judicial-cooperation arrangements where adequate safeguards are provided. A non-EU provider should map the product’s market entry and intended use, identify its role under the Act, determine whether an EU authorized representative is required, and assess applicable duties by system or model category. Keep evidence of where output is used and which entity controls deployment. Get advice for complex cross-border arrangements; geography alone is not a complete scope analysis.