Does integrating OpenAI or Anthropic APIs make my startup responsible under the EU AI Act?
What founders need to know about LLM APIs obligations in the EU
Welcome to The Daily Glitch on Purple Mirror: your weekly, plain-English answers to the questions founders and builders ask about the EU legal framework and market entry.
⛓️💥 The Glitch: If my product integrates OpenAI or Anthropic APIs, will I be responsible under the EU AI Act?
Short answer: Yes, you will still have responsibilities under the EU AI Act.
The EU AI Act assigns different obligations to different stakeholders. For companies building and selling AI-related products, the two most relevant are:
The Provider: The entity that builds or substantially modifies the AI system and place it into the market or into service under its own name.
The Deployer: The entity that puts the AI system into use.
Let me simplify it first:
If you use AI in your process or product, there will be different case scenario:
You can be considered as a deployer: if you are procuring an AI model or calling a API for internal use such as a AI internal portal.
You can be considered as a provider: if you are integrating the AI into a product or if you fine-tune or modify the model significantly => you become the provider of the new system. In this case, the provider obligations will also fall within your responsibility.
Worth mentioning: the line between provider and deployer is thin. If you train an AI model on proprietary data, it become much more difficult to clear cut when you are a deployer only and when you become a provider. It is an evaluation which should be done on a case basis.
Just Getting Started with the EU AI Act and need clarity?
I’ve put together an EU AI Act Cheatsheet: Simple, Visual and Plain English
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🔍 Disclaimer
✍️ I’m Nelsy, sharing my personal insights on Law, Ethics, and Disruptive Tech.
This is a simplified explanation to help you orient yourself and does not represent the full scope of the regulation. For a full assessment of your obligations under EU laws, seek professional guidance.
📢 The views expressed here are solely my own. Any content published on this platform is intended to spark discussion, provide clear, plain english explanation and does not constitute legal advice.
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