Over 100 companies first to sign EU's AI Pact

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 25 - Over one hundred companies have become the first to sign the EU Pact on Artificial Intelligence, the European Commission announced in a note.
    The signatories include European multinationals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from various sectors, including IT, telecommunications, healthcare, banking, automotive and aeronautics.
    The Pact supports the voluntary commitments of industry to start applying the principles of the European AI Act before its entry into force and strengthens the engagement between the EU AI Office and all relevant stakeholders, including industry, civil society and academia.
    The voluntary commitments of the EU Pact for AI call on participating companies to commit to at least three key actions: the AI ;;governance strategy to promote the adoption of AI in the organisation and work towards future compliance with AI law; the mapping of high-risk AI systems; and the promotion of AI literacy and awareness among staff, ensuring ethical and responsible development of AI.
    In addition to these key commitments, more than half of the signatories have committed to additional commitments, including ensuring human oversight, risk mitigation and transparent labelling of certain types of AI-generated content, such as deepfakes.
    The entire AI Act will be fully applicable in August 2026, two years after its entry into force, with some exceptions: bans will kick in after six months, governance rules and obligations for general-purpose AI models will become applicable after 12 months, and rules for AI systems embedded in regulated products will apply after 36 months. (ANSA).