EU rules on Artificial intelligence devices will apply in NI
Some EU rules on Artificial Intelligence will apply in Northern Ireland, the UK government says.
EU rules on Artificial intelligence devices will apply in NI
The government has said some EU rules on Artificial Intelligence will apply to Northern Ireland
Some EU rules on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will apply in Northern Ireland, the UK government has said.
However, the regulation of AI in NI will largely remain a matter for the UK government and Stormont.
EU rules will apply only to physical goods that contain an embedded AI system.
They will apply because of the Windsor Framework, the Brexit agreement that keeps NI within the EU single market for goods.
The EU's AI Act was adopted in 2024, and in 2025 the European Commission suggested that the parts relating to goods should apply in NI. That has been under negotiation with the UK since then.
The government said: "The EU AI Act does not apply to NI in full. It applies only where an AI system is closely integrated with a tangible physical product that is placed on the NI market.
"It would not affect an NI business simply because it uses online or downloadable AI tools to manage work, analyse data, or carry out business functions.
"It would also not place obligations on the developers of those tools for their use in NI, unless the AI is closely integrated into a physical product placed on the NI market."
Examples of products that will be covered by the EU laws include a smart speaker with a built-in AI voice assistant or a smart watch requiring a manufacturer's AI health monitoring app.
The main purpose of the EU law is to regulate AI according to its potential to cause harm to society. The greater the risk, the stricter the rules, with some AI applications being banned.
The government's examples of some physical products that could be banned include "a connected toy embedding AI that encourages children to undertake increasingly risky activities in exchange for reward or praise" or "an AI-connected camera with voice recognition that detects employee emotions
In general terms, when the EU's rules on the regulation of goods are updated, the UK government has to agree which of them should apply in NI.
In some circumstances, the NI Assembly also has a vote on the matter.