The five roles of the AI Act
Under the AI Act your duties depend on your role for each AI system. One firm can hold different roles for different systems. This page explains the roles in general terms; it does not decide your role.
Provider
Develops an AI system or has it developed, and places it on the market or puts it into service under its own name or trademark, paid or free. Providers carry most duties for high-risk systems.
Deployer
Uses an AI system under its authority in a professional activity. You use an AI tool at work but did not build it: the Act calls that a deployer. Purely personal use is outside the Act (Art. 2(10)).
Importer
Established in the EU and places on the EU market an AI system that carries the name or trademark of a person established outside the EU.
Distributor
Makes an AI system available on the EU market and is neither its provider nor its importer.
Authorised representative
Established in the EU and mandated in writing by a provider from outside the EU to carry out its duties under the Act.
When a deployer becomes a provider
A deployer, importer, distributor or other third party is treated as the provider of a high-risk system when it puts its own name or trademark on it, makes a substantial modification to it, or changes its intended purpose so that it becomes high-risk (Art. 25). A substantial modification also triggers a new conformity assessment (Art. 43(4)).
Outside the EU
The Act also covers providers outside the EU who place systems on the EU market, and providers and deployers outside the EU whose AI output is used in the EU (Art. 2(1)).
See all dates
Each role has duties that start on different dates.