First in EU: Italy passes comprehensive AI law, limits access to kids

Italy has become the first European Union member state to enact a national law regulating AI. The scope of the new regulation is definitely broad and envisions jail time for the worst offenders.

The law establishes human-centric, transparent, and safe use of AI as its guiding principles, while also highlighting the importance of innovation, privacy, and cybersecurity.

The regulation extends across healthcare, workplaces, education, justice, public administration, and even sports. In each of these domains, the law requires AI systems to remain traceable and subject to human oversight.

Those who use the technology to cause harm by, for example, generating AI deepfakes, might be imprisoned. The law introduces prison sentences of between one and five years for the illegal use of AI tools.

Penalties will also apply for using AI to commit crimes such as fraud and identity theft, and children under the age of 14 will need parental consent to access AI.

“This law brings innovation back within the perimeter of the public interest, steering AI toward growth, rights, and full protection of citizens,” said Alessio Butti, Italy’s undersecretary for digital transformation.

On copyright, works created with AI assistance are protected if they result from intellectual effort, while AI-driven text and data mining are allowed only for non-copyrighted content or scientific research by authorized institutions.

In healthcare, AI can assist diagnosis and care under certain conditions, with doctors retaining final decision-making and patients maintaining the right to be informed. Finally, for workplaces, the law requires employers to inform workers when AI is being deployed.

In 2023, Italy suspended ChatGPT for non-compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Italy’s new law is part of a larger European framework, following the EU’s AI Act, which went into effect in August 2024.

That particular law bans certain AI systems outright, including discriminatory social scoring and real-time biometric identification outside narrowly defined contexts. High-risk systems, such as those used in law enforcement, migration, or healthcare, are subject to strict requirements.

However, Italy has also been consistent regarding national AI regulation. In 2023, Rome suspended ChatGPT for non-compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and only lifted the temporary ban when OpenAI added new privacy and verification tools to the chatbot.

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