EU AI Act Article 26, deployer obligations
Article 26 is the clause that binds the organisation running an agent rather than the one that built it. Deployers must use a high risk system according to its instructions, assign human oversight to competent and supported natural persons, and keep the logs the system generates for at least six months.
The verdict
Verified
The document exists. The ledger fetched it at its publisher and quotes it.
Key facts
What the sources say
- Record ID
- AAL-2026-0023
- Kind
- Binding law
- Jurisdiction
- European Union
- Last verified
- Added
- Deployers must take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure they use high risk systems in accordance with the instructions for use.
- Deployers must assign human oversight to natural persons who have the necessary competence, training and authority, as well as the necessary support.
- Deployers must keep the logs automatically generated by the high risk system for a period appropriate to the intended purpose, of at least six months, unless other Union or national law provides otherwise.
- Financial institutions may keep those logs as part of the documentation they already maintain under financial services law.
Dimension by dimension
3 dimensions, each one stated, silent or open
Accountability, Logging and audit, Human approval. Stated means the document you can open below says it; silent means the ledger read the document and it does not.
- AccountabilityStated
- The deploying organisation carries named duties of its own, so running somebody else's agent does not move responsibility to the vendor.AI Act Explorer, Article 26, secondary source, 15 September 2026.
- Logging and auditStated
- Logs must be retained for at least six months where the deployer controls them.AI Act Explorer, Article 26, secondary source, 15 September 2026.
- Human approvalStated
- Oversight must be assigned to a competent, trained and authorised person, which makes it a staffing obligation rather than a design claim.AI Act Explorer, Article 26, secondary source, 15 September 2026.
Figures
Every number, with who measured it and when
- 6 months
Minimum period a deployer keeps a high risk system's logs
AI Act Explorer, Article 26, secondary source, as of .
What it changes
For a team deploying an agent
If you deploy an agent built by somebody else in a high risk use, three things become yours: staying inside the instructions for use, naming the person who oversees it and giving them real authority, and retaining the logs for at least six months. All three are cheap to arrange in advance and impossible to reconstruct later.
Sources
What this record was verified against
- EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689Primary · 12 July 2024
- AI Act Explorer, Article 26Secondary · 15 September 2026
Related
Records that sit beside this one
EU AI Act Article 12, record keeping
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Article 12(1) states that high risk AI systems shall technically allow for the automatic recording of events, or logs, over the lifetime of the system.
EU AI Act Article 14, human oversight
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
Article 14(1) requires high risk AI systems to be designed and developed so they can be effectively overseen by natural persons during the period in which they are in use, including through appropriate human machine interface tools.
Who is liable when a delegated agent exceeds its mandate
Global · verified 15 September 2026
The EU AI Act allocates duties to providers and deployers, and does not address an agent acting beyond its instructions.
No EU instrument defines an AI agent
European Union · verified 15 September 2026
The Commission states that the term AI agent is not legally defined and is used colloquially for different kinds of artefacts.
Cite this record
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID AAL-2026-0023 is permanent and is never reused.
- In a sentence
- According to the GAGE Agent Authority Ledger (as of 15 September 2026), eu ai act article 26, deployer obligations.
- APA
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). EU AI Act Article 26, deployer obligations. Agent Authority Ledger. Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0023-eu-ai-act-article-26-deployer-obligations
- MLA
- "EU AI Act Article 26, deployer obligations." Agent Authority Ledger, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 15 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0023-eu-ai-act-article-26-deployer-obligations.
- Chicago
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "EU AI Act Article 26, deployer obligations." Agent Authority Ledger. Last modified 15 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0023-eu-ai-act-article-26-deployer-obligations.
- Permalink
- https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0023-eu-ai-act-article-26-deployer-obligations
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