EU could water down AI Act amid pressure from Trump and big tech
By Jennifer Rankin, The Guardian, November 7, 2025
The European Commission is considering plans to delay parts of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, after intense pressure from businesses and Donald Trump’s administration.
The commission confirmed that “a reflection” was “still ongoing” on delaying aspects of the regulation, after media reports that Brussels was weighing up changes with the aim of easing demands on big tech companies.
The act, the first comprehensive legislation in the world regulating AI, came into force in August 2024, but many of its provisions are yet to apply. Most obligations on companies developing high-risk AI systems that “pose serious risks to health, safety or fundamental rights” are not due to come into effect until August 2026 or a year after that.
According to the Financial Times, the commission is considering giving a one-year “grace period” to companies breaching the rules on the highest-risk AI.
