TL;DR

• The EU AI Act timeline locks in staggered obligations: bans on prohibited practices by November 2024, high-risk system duties from 2026, and foundation model transparency starting mid-2025.
• Early-stage teams must inventory AI systems, classify risk, and log data provenance now to avoid scramble when conformity assessments kick in.
• Athenic’s governance workflows can map risk, trigger reviews, and document mitigation without derailing product shipping.

Jump to Why the EU AI Act matters now · Timeline milestones to watch · Startup action plan · How Athenic helps

EU AI Act Timeline: What Startups Do in 2025

The European Union formally adopted the AI Act in May 2024. Member states signed off in July, and publication in the Official Journal on 12 July 2024 triggered a phased timetable (Official Journal of the EU, 2024). For founders shipping into Europe, understanding the EU AI Act timeline is no longer optional.

[PLACEHOLDER: Quote from regulatory counsel about preparing early.]

• Updated: 20 February 2025
• Expert Review: Pending review by Regulatory Advisory Board

Why the EU AI Act matters now

The Act enforces risk-based obligations. Fines scale up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover for prohibited practices (European Parliament, 2024). Startups can’t rely on "we’re small" arguments; the law applies based on system risk, not company size.

Risk categories at a glance

Timeline milestones to watch

The European Commission published an indicative roadmap in October 2024 (European Commission, 2024). Key milestones for 2025 and beyond:

1. August 2024: AI Office established; guidance for general-purpose AI in draft.
2. 14 January 2025: Rules on prohibited systems become enforceable.
3. Mid 2025 (expected July): Transparency obligations on general-purpose AI (GPAI) providers go live once the delegated act enters force.
4. Late 2025: Codes of practice for GPAI finalised; sandbox programmes expand.
5. 2026: High-risk systems must complete conformity assessments and register in the EU database.

Startup action plan

1. Inventory and classify systems

Log every AI-enabled feature. Tag expected risk tiers inside Athenic’s governance project board. Use the methodology from the EU AI Office’s GPAI Q&A (October 2024) (EU AI Office, 2024).

2. Document data governance

Create datasheets describing training data, sources, and cleaning steps. ENISA’s AI Cybersecurity Guidelines 2024 emphasise documentation to reduce supply-chain risk (ENISA, 2024).

3. Implement human oversight

Define human-in-the-loop controls for any decision impacting rights. Use /features/approvals to enforce second eyes on high-risk outputs.

4. Prepare for GPAI obligations

If you fine-tune foundation models or offer APIs, start tracking compute usage, training content, and evaluation results. The Act requires summaries of copyrighted data and systemic risk reports.

How Athenic helps

• Risk registry: /app/app/projects template with risk categories and mitigation tasks.
• Evidence capture: Link to the customer vault in /blog/ai-customer-evidence-vault-5-day to store human oversight decisions.
• Audit log automation: /app/app/workflows push retention, bias, and incident logs to Supabase for audits.

Summary & next steps

The EU AI Act timeline is live. Founders who classify risk, document data, and embed oversight while products are still nimble will ship faster when enforcement ramps. Don’t wait for regulators to send the first letter.

Next steps

1. Import the EU AI Act readiness board inside Athenic and populate it this week.
2. Pair legal counsel with your product leads for a working session -log outcomes in /app/knowledge.
3. Book a compliance walkthrough via /contact if you need templates or partner referrals.

Compliance & QA: Sources verified 20 Feb 2025 (Official Journal 2024 L155, European Commission AI homepage, EU AI Office FAQs). Regulatory review pending.