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EU AI Act for Small Businesses and SMEs: What Actually Applies to You
Most EU AI Act analysis targets large enterprises. This guide covers what small businesses and SMEs actually need to do — which obligations apply, which exemptions exist, and what the real compliance burden looks like.
Key Takeaways
The EU AI Act categorises AI by risk: prohibited (banned), high-risk (strict obligations), limited-risk (transparency requirements), and minimal-risk (no mandatory requirements). Most SME AI use falls into limited-risk or minimal-risk.
High-risk AI covers Annex III use cases: AI in hiring, credit scoring, education, critical infrastructure, and law enforcement. Using ChatGPT for marketing is not high-risk. Using AI to screen job applications is.
From August 2026, all EU businesses must ensure chatbots disclose they are AI, AI-generated images and video are labelled, and emotion recognition AI is disclosed to users.
SMEs benefit from specific support provisions: reduced conformity assessment fees, simplified documentation requirements, priority access to regulatory sandboxes, and dedicated SME guidance from the European AI Office.
The EU AI Act does not replace GDPR — they operate in parallel. For any AI that processes personal data, full GDPR obligations remain in force.
SMEs with high-risk AI use cases (hiring tools, credit scoring, educational assessment) need to be building compliance infrastructure now — Annex III high-risk obligations apply from August 2026 under current law (an AI Omnibus proposal from May 2026 may push this to December 2027, pending formal adoption).
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The risk categorisation that determines your obligations
Prohibited AI (prohibited from 2 February 2025): subliminal manipulation, real-time biometric identification in public spaces, social scoring. Most SMEs are nowhere near this. High-risk AI (Annex III): AI in hiring, credit scoring, education, critical infrastructure — if your AI falls here, you need conformity assessments, technical documentation, human oversight, and EU AI database registration. Limited-risk: transparency obligations only — chatbots must disclose they are AI, AI-generated content must be labelled. From August 2026. Minimal-risk: no mandatory requirements.
SME-specific support
Article 62 provides SMEs with: reduced conformity assessment fees; simplified technical documentation; priority access to regulatory sandboxes in each member state; and dedicated guidance from the European AI Office. For most EU SMEs using AI for marketing or operations (not Annex III use cases): from August 2026, ensure chatbots disclose they are AI and AI-generated images are labelled. That is the realistic compliance burden for low-risk AI use.