Council Formally Adopts 'AI Omnibus' Amending the EU AI Act

The Council of the EU gave final approval to the Digital Omnibus on AI — a package of targeted amendments to the 2024 AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) — closing the ordinary legislative procedure after the European Parliament's June 16 adoption. The Omnibus extends compliance deadlines for high-risk AI systems (to December 2027 for standalone systems, August 2028 for AI embedded in products), adds a prohibition on non-consensual intimate AI-generated imagery, and grants a watermarking grace period until December 2026 for generative AI systems already on the market. The final act was signed July 8 and entered into force July 27 following Official Journal publication on July 24.