High-risk AI system

A system that makes or substantially influences a consequential decision about a person (credit, employment, health, insurance, safety, essential services). A defined legal category in the EU AI Act and in various US state laws, though the exact definition and the obligations attached vary by jurisdiction and shift over time (Colorado's SB 24-205 defined the category but was repealed in May 2026 before taking effect). This is the reason the register's risk-tier column has legal weight.

A permitted system carrying the Act's full requirements because it can seriously affect health, safety, or fundamental rights. Defined by Article 6 through two doors: Article 6(1) (safety component of an Annex I product needing third-party conformity assessment) and Article 6(2) (a use in one of the eight Annex III areas).

A category defined under the EU AI Act (including sectors named in its Annex III, such as creditworthiness assessment) that triggers the Act's most demanding obligations, including Articles 14 and 15; whether a specific system falls into this category is a scoping question, not an assumption.

An AI system classified as high-risk under Article 6, through either the Annex I safety-component route (Article 6(1)) or the Annex III use-area route (Article 6(2)), and not excluded by Article 6(3). Carries the full Chapter III obligation stack.

Under the EU AI Act, a system in a named high-risk category (including hiring) that carries duties such as risk management, data governance, documentation, logging, human oversight, transparency, and conformity assessment. High-risk means heavily governed, not banned.