Deployer: EU AI Act definition
A deployer is a company or other body that uses an AI system under its authority, except for personal, non-professional use.
On this page
Last verified October 31, 2026, against the AI Act as amended by the Digital Omnibus on AI (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744).
Where it comes from. Art. 3(4) of the EU AI Act: “a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body using an AI system under its authority except where the AI system is used in the course of a personal non-professional activity”.
Example
A Chicago company with an office in Dublin buys an AI tool that screens job applications, and its Irish subsidiary uses it to hire. The subsidiary is a deployer established in the EU (Art. 2(1)(b)), and the tool’s vendor is the provider. If the US parent ran the tool from Chicago and the output was used for the Dublin hires, the parent could be in scope as a deployer whose output is used in the EU (Art. 2(1)(c)).
What it means for you
- Take AI literacy measures (Art. 4) and stay clear of the banned practices (Art. 5).
- Inform people exposed to emotion recognition or biometric categorization, and disclose deep fakes and some AI-generated text (Art. 50(3)-(4)).
- For high-risk systems, such as the hiring tool above, from December 2, 2027 (Annex III) or August 2, 2028 (Annex I): use the system as instructed, assign competent human oversight, check that input data you control is relevant, monitor the system and report risks and serious incidents (suspending use where it presents a risk), keep the logs you control for at least six months, inform workers and their representatives before workplace use, and inform people subject to Annex III decisions, among other duties (Art. 26). Some deployers also assess the impact on fundamental rights (Art. 27).
- The duty to appoint an authorized representative falls on non-EU providers (Arts. 22 and 54).
- From the same dates, you can become the provider if you rebrand or substantially modify a high-risk system, or give another system a high-risk purpose (Art. 25(1)).
Hiring in New York City too? See NYC Local Law 144.
Read next
- Provider or deployer: your EU AI Act role
- Does the EU AI Act apply to a US company?
- The EU AI Act for US companies
- Glossary
This page is general information, not legal advice.
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