European AI Office

 

The European AI Office supports the development and use of trustworthy AI, while protecting against AI risks. The AI Office was established within the European Commission as the centre of AI expertise and forms the foundation for a single European AI governance system.

The EU aims to ensure that AI is safe and trustworthy. For this purpose, the AI Act is the first-ever comprehensive legal framework on AI worldwide, guaranteeing the health, safety and fundamental rights of people, and providing legal certainty to businesses across the 27 Member States.

The AI Office is uniquely equipped to support the EU’s approach to AI. It plays a key role in implementing the AI Act by supporting the governance bodies in Member States in their tasks. It enforces the rules for general-purpose AI models. This is underpinned by the powers given to the Commission by the AI Act, including the ability to conduct evaluations of general-purpose AI models, request information and measures from model providers, and apply sanctions. The AI Office also promotes an innovative ecosystem of trustworthy AI, to reap the societal and economic benefits. It ensures a strategic, coherent and effective European approach on AI at the international level, becoming a global reference point.

For well-informed decision-making, the AI Office collaborates with Member States and the wider expert community through dedicated fora and expert groups. These combine knowledge from the scientific community, industry, think tanks, civil society, and the open-source ecosystem, ensuring that their views and expertise are taken into account. Grounded in comprehensive insights of the AI ecosystem, including advances in capabilities, deployment and other trends, the AI Office fosters a thorough understanding of potential benefits and risks.

In January 2024, the Commission has launched an AI innovation package to support startups and SMEs in developing trustworthy AI that complies with EU values and rules. Both the ‘GenAI4EU' initiative and the AI office were part of this package. Together, they will contribute to the development of novel use cases and emerging applications in Europe's 14 industrial ecosystems, as well as the public sector. Application areas include robotics, health, biotech, manufacturing, mobility, climate and virtual worlds.

 

The organisational set-up of the European AI Office consists of 5 units and 2 advisors, reflecting its mandate. These include:

• The “Excellence in AI and Robotics” unit
• The “Regulation and Compliance” unit
• The “AI Safety” unit
• The “AI Innovation and Policy Coordination” unit
• The “AI for Societal Good” unit
• The Lead Scientific Advisor
• The Advisor for International Affairs

The AI Office will employ over 140 staff, including Technology Specialists, Administrative Assistants, Lawyers, Policy Specialists, and Economists (find out more details below).

Supporting the AI Act and enforcing general-purpose AI rules

The AI Office makes use of its expertise to support the implementation of the AI Act by:

• Contributing to the coherent application of the AI Act across the Member States, including the set-up of advisory bodies at EU level, facilitating support and information exchange
• Developing tools, methodologies and benchmarks for evaluating capabilities and reach of general-purpose AI models, and classifying models with systemic risks
• Drawing up state-of-the-art codes of practice to detail out rules, in cooperation with leading AI developers, the scientific community and other experts
• Investigating possible infringements of rules, including evaluations to assess model capabilities, and requesting providers to take corrective action
• Preparing guidance and guidelines, implementing and delegated acts, and other tools to support effective implementation of the AI Act and monitor compliance with the regulation

Strengthening the development and use of trustworthy AI

The Commission aims to foster trustworthy AI across the internal market. The AI Office, in collaboration with relevant public and private actors and the startup community, contributes to this by:

• Advancing actions and policies to reap the societal and economic benefits of AI across the EU
• Providing advice on best practices and enabling ready-access to AI sandboxes, real-world testing and other European support structures for AI uptake
• Encouraging innovative ecosystems of trustworthy AI to enhance the EU’s competitiveness and economic growth
• Aiding the Commission in leveraging the use of transformative AI tools and reinforcing AI literacy

Fostering international cooperation

At international level, the AI Office contributes to a strategic, coherent, and effective EU approach, by:

• Promoting the EU’s approach to trustworthy AI, including collaboration with similar institutions worldwide
• Fostering international cooperation and governance on AI, with the aim of contributing to a global approach to AI
• Supporting the development and implementation of international agreements on AI, including the support of Member States

To effectively carry out all tasks based on evidence and foresight, the AI Office continuously monitors the AI ecosystem, technological and market developments, but also the emergence of systemic risks and any other relevant trends.

Cooperation with institutions, experts and stakeholders

Collaboration with a diverse range of institutions, experts and stakeholders is essential for the work of the AI Office.

At an institutional level, the AI Office works closely with the European Artificial Intelligence Board formed by Member State representatives and the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency (ECAT) of the Commission.

The Scientific Panel of independent experts ensures a strong link with the scientific community. Further technical expertise is gathered in an Advisory Forum, representing a balanced selection of stakeholders, including industry, startups and SMEs, academia, think tanks and civil society. The AI Office may also partner up with individual experts and organisations. It will also create fora for cooperation of providers of AI models and systems, including general-purpose AI, and similarly for the open-source community, to share best practices and contribute to the development of codes of conduct and codes of practice.

The AI Office also oversees the AI Pact, which allows businesses to engage with the Commission and other stakeholders such as sharing best practices and joining activities. This engagement has started before the AI Act entered into force and will allow businesses to plan ahead and prepare for the full implementation of the AI Act. All this will be part of the European AI Alliance, a Commission initiative, to establish an open policy dialogue on AI.

Further initiatives to foster trustworthy AI development and uptake within the EU are mapped on the Coordinated Plan on AI.

The European Artificial Intelligence Board (AI Board) is a key advisory body that includes representatives from each EU Member State and is supported by the AI Office within the European Commission. The AI Board’s primary role is to ensure the effective implementation of the AI Act across the EU by coordinating national authorities, sharing technical and regulatory expertise, and providing advice on AI policy, innovation, and international partnerships. It aims to foster a coherent and forward-looking AI policy framework that benefits all European citizens while upholding high standards of safety and ethics.

The AI Office recruits talents with a variety of backgrounds for policy, technical and legal work and administrative assistance.

You can alsosign up to receive updates from the AI Office.

You can get in touch with the European AI Office through the following contact details: CNECT-AIOFFICE@ec.europa.eu for general inquiries and CNECT-AIOFFICE-RECRUITMENT@ec.europa.eu for inquiries related to job opportunities.

1st European AI Office webinar

The 1st webinar on Risk management logic of the AI Act and related standards took place on 30 May.

View the recording

Download the slides