European Parliament backs AI Act simplification and nudifier app ban
Stronger protections against harmful AI emerged as the European Parliament backed a ban on nudifier apps.
The European Parliament has approved amendments to parts of the EU AI Act as part of the digital omnibus package, postponing some compliance deadlines while adding a ban on AI systems used to create non-consensual sexually explicit content.
MEPs backed the changes with 423 votes in favour, 57 against and 174 abstentions. The measures are intended to simplify compliance for companies while preserving the AI Act’s risk-based structure and core safeguards.
Under the approved text, obligations for stand-alone high-risk AI systems would apply from 2 December 2027. Obligations for AI systems embedded as safety components in products covered by the EU sectoral safety and market surveillance legislation would apply from 2 August 2028.
The text also delays the obligation to watermark AI-generated content until 2 December 2026. By then, AI-generated content will need to be labelled in a machine-readable way to support transparency.
Parliament also approved a ban on AI systems that generate child sexual abuse material or create images, videos or audio depicting an identifiable person’s intimate parts or sexually explicit activities without consent. Providers would not be allowed to place such systems on the EU market unless they include adequate technical safeguards to prevent the creation of such material. The ban would also apply to deployers using systems for that purpose.
Other changes include removing overlapping requirements for AI used in machinery products, clarifying the definition of ‘safety component’, extending some SME exemptions to small mid-cap enterprises, and streamlining enforcement of certain general-purpose AI systems through the EU AI Office.
The legislation still needs formal adoption by the Council before it can enter into force.
Why does it matter?
The vote shows the EU trying to adjust the implementation AI the AI Act without reopening the law’s overall risk-based architecture. Delaying some deadlines could reduce legal uncertainty for businesses and give standards, guidance, and support measures more time to mature. At the same time, the proposed ban on nudification tools and AI-assisted child sexual abuse material addresses a fast-growing harm linked to generative AI, especially image and video manipulation targeting women and minors.
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