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AI Governance Glossary
Governance Concept

What Is Deployer?

Deployer is under the EU AI Act, a natural or legal person using an AI system under its own authority, except where the system is used in the course of a personal, non-professional activity.

Definition

Deployer โ€” under the EU AI Act, a natural or legal person using an AI system under its own authority, except where the system is used in the course of a personal, non-professional activity.

Deployers (called "users" in earlier drafts) are the organisations that put AI to work in their operations. Their high-risk obligations are lighter than providers' but still real: use the system per its instructions, ensure human oversight, monitor operation, keep logs, and in some cases run a fundamental-rights impact assessment. Most organisations adopting third-party AI are deployers, not providers.

Source: EU AI Act, Article 3(4)

Plain-language explanation

Deployers (called "users" in earlier drafts) are the organisations that put AI to work in their operations. Their high-risk obligations are lighter than providers' but still real: use the system per its instructions, ensure human oversight, monitor operation, keep logs, and in some cases run a fundamental-rights impact assessment. Most organisations adopting third-party AI are deployers, not providers.

Primary source: EU AI Act, Article 3(4)

Related terms

Provider Operator EU AI Act High-Risk AI

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