The European Commission has this week launched the AI Act Service Desk and Single Information Platform - two platforms designed to support businesses with the implementation of the EU AI Act. This isn't a surprise to anyone, as the AI Office is obliged under Article 62(3)(b) to "develop and maintain a single information platform providing easy to use information in relation to this Regulation for all operators across the Union".

These tools form part of the EC's wider AI Continent Action Plan, which aims to foster trustworthy, human-centric AI while supporting innovation and investment across the EU.

🧰 Single Information Platform

The SIP is a centralised online hub offering:

• FAQs and guidance documents: all in one place including those published at a national level
• AI Act Explorer: browse the full legal text
• Compliance Checker: assess whether your AI system is regulated and the obligations apply (with disclaimers aplenty!)
• AI Act Service Desk: submit questions directly to the AI Office

🏛️ AI Act Service Desk

The AI Act Service Desk is a multilingual helpdesk staffed by experts which allows stakeholders to submit questions to the AI Office, providing:

• Responses to legal and technical queries
• Support for SMEs, startups and enterprises
• Consistent interpretation of the rules across Member States

As a reminder, the AI Office is the central enforcement body for the AI Act. It supervises GPAI models, coordinates with national regulators and leads international cooperation on AI governance. It also oversees codes of practice and technical standards, and investigates non-compliance.

✅ Best Bits

Take a look at the Compliance Checker in particular - it's a really helpful starting point and, although it's (unsurprisingly) not going to make any key decisions for you, will give an initial steer on the first steps you need to take towards compliance. Top marks to whoever drafted the extensive disclaimer message on the front page.

A nice touch is the fact that AI Act guidance is baked directly into the tool, so when you're answering the question “Does your AI model qualify as a general-purpose AI model under the AI Act?”, you're able to refer directly to resources which will help you make that determination (although if you don't know whether your model's training compute exceeds 10^23 FLOPs, it's game over I'm afraid!).

📅 What's Next for the AI Act?

As a quick reminder, below are some of the upcoming key deadlines (as well as the most recent one), so that they're squarely on your radar:

• 2 August 2025: obligations for GPAI providers, governance structures, penalties, and designated authorities take effect.
• 2 August 2026: GPAI ‘grace period' for GPAI providers comes to an end and obligations for high-risk AI systems take effect.
• 2 August 2027: entire AI Act takes effect.