What happened

The AI Act entered into force in the EU on 1 August 2024. Prohibitions and AI literacy followed after six months, governance and general-purpose AI duties after twelve months, while most provisions applied later.

Entry into force means that the legal act formally exists; application determines when concrete duties must be followed. The distinction matters for budgets, contracts and control plans.

Legal status in Norway

The EU entry-into-force date did not apply the Act in Norway; Norway still needed EEA incorporation and a national KI law.

What the sources clarify

The dates following entry into force became part of risk management. Each system needed to be connected to the correct provision and application date: a prohibited use required action sooner than a system whose full high-risk duties came later. Supplier agreements also needed to account for model, use and legal status changing before most provisions applied. A useful inventory would therefore record owner, role, version, intended purpose, market and next review date. This prevents 'entered into force' from being misread as meaning that every operational requirement applied immediately on 1 August 2024.

A manageable timeline should sit in the system register rather than a separate legal calendar. For each system, the owner should see the next deadline, supplier dependencies and missing evidence. Norwegian organisations must also distinguish activity directed at the EU market from activity awaiting EEA incorporation and Norwegian implementation.

Practical implications

An accountable manager should be able to see systems approaching a deadline, missing evidence and uncertain territorial reach each month. This supports correct sequencing of prohibitions, competence measures and supplier dependencies while decisions for Norway retain an explicit record of actual EEA status.

Sources

European Commission: “AI Act enters into force,” 1 August 2024.

EUR-Lex: “Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — Official Journal text,” 12 July 2024.

For discussion

Where is the largest gap between documented control and actual practice?