© European Union, 2026, licensed under CC BY 4.0 

From cutting-edge foundation models to specialised AI applications, the AI landscape in the EU is dynamic. It is driven by research, emerging technologies and a thriving ecosystem of startups and scaleups. The AI Continent Action Plan will boost the European Union’s AI innovation capabilities through actions and policies around five key pillars.

On 8 October 2025, Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, announced the “Apply AI Strategy” and the “European AI in Science Strategy”. The strategies aim to integrate Artificial Intelligence into the EU’s key industries, and to focus on research for AI, and using AI in European science across all fields.

Find information on the newly announced AI strategies here. See here for more on the Comission’s plan to boost AI.

On 2 August 2026, the European Commission’s AI Office, together with national authorities, began enforcing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. On the same date, new transparency rules started to apply, requiring certain AI systems to tell users when they are interacting with AI and when content has been generated or altered by it.

Under the new rules, chatbots and other interactive AI systems will have to tell users they are dealing with AI, not a human. Deepfakes (images, videos, or audio that have been edited or generated using AI) will have to be labelled. AI-generated or altered content will also have to carry machine-readable marks so it can be detected more easily. The measures are intended to reduce deception and manipulation and help people make informed choices. They also give businesses clearer obligations and a practical way to show compliance.