The European Parliament has adopted legislation that prohibits specific uses of artificial intelligence. According to the Parliament's statement, the newly approved rules ban AI systems that generate material depicting sexual abuse of children, as well as systems that create images, videos or audio showing identifiable persons' intimate body parts or sexual activities without their consent.
Practical effects
Under the rules, platforms may not place these systems on the EU market unless they deploy appropriate technical safeguards to prevent the production of such material. So-called "deep-nudity" or "stripping" apps — which produce nude or compromising depictions of people without consent — have been an increasing problem in mobile app stores in recent years, and the legislation aims to curb their spread.
Companies affected by the ban have until 2 December 2026 to modify their systems to comply with the new requirements.
Delays and transitional measures
The Parliament also decided to postpone the application of certain parts of the AI regulation to ensure that necessary standards and supporting measures are available. In particular, the obligation to apply machine-readable watermarking to AI-generated content has been deferred until 2 December, so that common marking and technical requirements can be developed before the rule takes effect.
Why this matters
The measures are intended to protect individuals' rights and personal safety amid the growing use of AI, especially against the automated generation of non-consensual sexual imagery and child sexual abuse material. The regulation may have a significant market impact by imposing technical constraints and compliance obligations on developers and platforms offering AI-based services in the EU.
