GuidanceGuidancev1.0.0

High-risk does not mean prohibited, and not high-risk does not mean permitted

Classification answers one question: which Chapter III obligations apply. It says nothing about whether the use itself is lawful. Prohibited practices, data protection, consumer law, product safety and national law continue to apply in full.

The official source remains authoritative. This is general information about obligations and not legal advice. See this object on the map

Address and citation

This object has an address of its own that is never renamed or reused. Store the identifier in your own file, not the title or the link.

Identifier: praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission
Payload hash (sha256): 10104adb4730a287ecda1ce0947349ec478e5cc9d9d911bf13da50045befa6fb

Citation line

Praxikon, "High-risk does not mean prohibited, and not high-risk does not mean permitted", praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission@1.0.0, dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0), effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z, sha256 10104adb4730a287ecda1ce0947349ec478e5cc9d9d911bf13da50045befa6fb

Version: 1.0.0
Legal time (effective_at): 8 August 2026
Knowledge time (known_at): 8 August 2026
Closed on: Not closed
Topics: guidance

Review status: Placed against the official source (8 August 2026). Next check due by 4 February 2027. The check date is the knowledge date of this version; no later recheck has been recorded.

What this object links to

Every relation appears below as a path: from the source with its locator, through the conditions and exceptions of the object carrying the relation, to the consequence. A locator belongs to a statement in the data and not to a relation, so the source is the source anchor of the carrying object.

The obligation this hangs off

1 of 1 shown

The object belongs to this obligation. The source line it hangs off sits there.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- Draft guidelines on the classification of high-risk AI systems
  Locator: Draft guidelines on high-risk AI classification (19 May 2026), General principles chapter, paragraphs (3) and (4); Annex III chapter, paragraph (68) and section 2.6, paragraphs (82) and (83)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelines
  Open official source
Via
No condition or exception recorded on this object.
Consequence
- ObligationAnnex III: high-risk AI
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:annex-iii-high-risk

What this object is about

2 of 2 shown

The object is about this role. Undifferentiated: it does not follow that the duty rests on this role.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- Draft guidelines on the classification of high-risk AI systems
  Locator: Draft guidelines on high-risk AI classification (19 May 2026), General principles chapter, paragraphs (3) and (4); Annex III chapter, paragraph (68) and section 2.6, paragraphs (82) and (83)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelines
  Open official source
Via
No condition or exception recorded on this object.
Consequence
- ActorDeployer
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:deployer
- ActorProvider of an AI system
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:provider

What this object states

Official fact

Attributable to a named primary source, with a locator. Where they differ, the official source prevails.

The draft guidelines of 19 May 2026 on the classification of high-risk AI, which are not binding, state in paragraph (3) that the fact an AI system is listed as an example in these guidelines does not mean its use should automatically be considered lawful, since such use would still need to comply with other applicable legislation, and in paragraph (4) that the scope of these guidelines is limited to whether an AI system is high-risk or not. In the Annex III chapter of this draft, paragraph (68) states that classifying systems as high-risk under Article 6(2) does not mean their use is prohibited, but that those systems are subject to appropriate requirements. Paragraphs (82) and (83) of this draft explain the wording in so far as their use is permitted under relevant Union or national law and state that falling within a use case does not necessarily mean the system may lawfully be used in those cases, that in addition to the prohibitions other provisions of Union or national law may restrict use, and that under Article 2(9) the AI Act applies without prejudice to rules on consumer protection, product safety and data protection.
- Locator: Draft guidelines on high-risk AI classification (19 May 2026), General principles chapter, paragraphs (3) and (4); Annex III chapter, paragraph (68) and section 2.6, paragraphs (82) and (83)praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelinesOpen official source

Our interpretation

Our own reading. It can change without the law changing, and it is not the position of a supervisory authority.

This removes two errors of reasoning. The first is that a high-risk label equals a ban, which stops projects unnecessarily. The second, and the more dangerous one, is that an outcome of not high-risk means you have a free hand. A system can fall outside high-risk and at the same time be a prohibited practice, or fail on data protection or sector rules.
- Locator: Draft guidelines on high-risk AI classification (19 May 2026), General principles chapter, paragraphs (3) and (4); Annex III chapter, paragraph (68) and section 2.6, paragraphs (82) and (83)praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelinesOpen official source

Recommended step

A practical step we consider appropriate. Not an obligation following from the Regulation.

Run the classification test and the lawfulness test as two separate steps and record both outcomes separately. Always test first against the Article 5 prohibited practices, enforceable since 2 February 2025, and only then against Article 6. Finish with a short check on data protection and sector-specific law, even where the system turns out not to be high-risk.
- Locator: Draft guidelines on high-risk AI classification (19 May 2026), General principles chapter, paragraphs (3) and (4); Annex III chapter, paragraph (68) and section 2.6, paragraphs (82) and (83)praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelinesOpen official source

When this applies

No condition recorded on this object.

When this does not apply

No exception recorded on this object.

Referring to this object

Citation block

Copy this reference into your advice, article or file. The identifier, the version and the hash keep the statement findable later, even once the dataset has moved on.

Reference

Praxikon, "High-risk does not mean prohibited, and not high-risk does not mean permitted",
praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission@1.0.0,
dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0),
effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z,
sha256 10104adb4730a287ecda1ce0947349ec478e5cc9d9d911bf13da50045befa6fb,
https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/guidance/guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission
(https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/entities?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aguidance%3Aguidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission&effective_at=2026-08-08&known_at=2026-08-08&lang=en, accessed 2026-08-25)

Short form

praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission@1.0.0 (sha256 10104adb)

BibTeX

@misc{praxikon-eu-ai-act-guidance-guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission-1-0-0,
  author       = {{Praxikon}},
  title        = {High-risk does not mean prohibited, and not high-risk does not mean permitted},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.0.0},
  number       = {praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission},
  howpublished = {AI Act Change \& Evidence Graph, dataset 2.1.0, schema 1.4.0},
  note         = {effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 10104adb4730a287ecda1ce0947349ec478e5cc9d9d911bf13da50045befa6fb},
  url          = {https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/guidance/guidance-high-risk-classification-is-not-permission},
  urldate      = {2026-08-25},
  language     = {en}
}

CSL JSON

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    "container-title": "AI Act Change & Evidence Graph",
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  }
]

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