The European Union’s member states and the European Parliament have reached an agreement to prohibit certain artificial intelligence (AI) services that create fabricated sexual or intimate content, or that generate material depicting the sexual abuse of children, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament said.
According to the Brussels statement, the co-legislators aimed to introduce a provision that helps providers comply with the EU AI Regulation while preserving the regulation’s main provisions and its risk-based approach.
What the addition forbids
The new EU-wide ban covers AI applications or services that produce:
- images, videos or audio material that depict child pornography;
- content that "undresses" identifiable persons (for example via deepfake techniques) or depicts identifiable persons engaged in sexual activity without their consent.
The statement notes that this addition will become part of EU rules and is intended to prevent the most harmful and damaging uses of the technology.
Why this matters
The move responds to the rapid spread of generative AI and the increasing misuse of deepfakes and similar techniques to create fake sexual material, which can lead to severe rights violations and harm to victims. Lawmakers say the regulation seeks to keep pace with technological development while ensuring strong legal protections in the most critical cases.
Further notes
The announcement provides a summary that the member states and the European Parliament want to simplify compliance for providers while enforcing the rules. The statement references reporting by MTI about the content of the provision.
The detailed legal text and timelines for implementation were not specified in the announcement; those elements will be decided during subsequent legislative steps.
