EU AI Act: Commission publishes draft guidelines on high-risk AI classification

The European Commission has published draft guidelines on how to classify AI systems as “high-risk” under Article 6 of the EU AI Act. The consultation closes 23 June 2026.

The guidelines are intended to help providers, deployers and other actors determine whether their AI systems fall within the high-risk category, and to support regulators in applying the rules consistently across member states.

There are two routes to high-risk classification:

1. The first applies where an AI system forms part of a product subject to EU product safety legislation that requires third-party conformity assessment.
2. The second, more broadly relevant for most businesses, is where the system falls within one of eight specific use case areas listed in Annex III of the Act, covering biometrics, employment decisions, credit scoring, law enforcement and administration of justice, among others. 

High-risk classification does not mean a system is prohibited – it means additional compliance obligations apply around transparency, human oversight and data governance.

A few points worth flagging for in-house teams:

• Classification is assessed by looking at a system’s intended purpose across technical documentation, marketing materials and terms and conditions as a whole. A disclaimer saying “no high-risk uses” in the T&Cs will not help if other materials tell a different story.
• Businesses customising or rebranding third-party AI tools also risk being treated as full “providers” under the Act, with all the obligations that brings.

On timelines, following the Digital Omnibus: Annex III obligations apply from 2 December 2027, Annex I product-safety systems from 2 August 2028, and public sector deployments from 2 August 2030.

If you would like to discuss how current or future regulations impact what you do with AI, please contact Tom Whittaker, Brian Wong, Lucy Pegler, Martin Cook, Liz Griffiths or any other member in our Technology team.  For the latest on AI law and regulation, see our blog and newsletter.

Written by Olivia Ward.