Companies with employees in the European Union (EU) could be affected by a landmark proposal to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the region. The EU Artificial Intelligence Act, now working its way through the legislative process, is expected to shape technology and standards worldwide. The act comprises a broad set of rules seeking to regulate the use of AI across industries and social activities, noted Jean-François Gerard, a Brussels-based attorney for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The AI regulation proposes a sliding scale of rules based on risk: the higher the perceived risk, the stricter the rule, he said. The proposal would classify different AI applications as unacceptable, high, limited or minimal risks, according to a client briefing Gerard helped produce.