Source: OJ L, 2024/1689, 12.7.2024Current language: EN
- Artificial intelligence act
Basic legislative acts
- AI act regulation
Article 91 Power to request documentation and information
Summary What does Article 91 of the AI act regulation say?
This article establishes the Commission's power to formally request information from providers of general-purpose AI models as part of its supervisory role over Chapter V of the regulation.
It sits within the enforcement framework that gives the Commission — acting through the AI Office — its investigative tools, and it connects directly to the documentation obligations placed on providers under Articles 53 and 55.
Before resorting to a formal request, the AI Office has the option to first engage in a structured dialogue with the provider.
The article also sets out the formal requirements that any such request must meet, and clarifies that the obligation to respond falls on the provider or its authorised representative, with clients remaining fully responsible for the accuracy of any information supplied.
Important points:
- Providers of general-purpose AI models are required to supply documentation and any additional information requested by the Commission for the purpose of assessing their compliance with the regulation.
- The Commission may also issue a request for information on the basis of a substantiated request from the scientific panel, where access to the information is necessary and proportionate for the panel to fulfil its tasks under Article 68(2).
- Any formal request for information must state its legal basis and purpose, specify what is required, set a deadline, and reference the fines under Article 101 for supplying incorrect, incomplete or misleading information.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
The Commission may request the provider of the general-purpose AI model concerned to provide the documentation drawn up by the provider in accordance with Articles 53 and 55, or any additional information that is necessary for the purpose of assessing compliance of the provider with this Regulation.
Before sending the request for information, the AI Office may initiate a structured dialogue with the provider of the general-purpose AI model.
Upon a duly substantiated request from the scientific panel, the Commission may issue a request for information to a provider of a general-purpose AI model, where the access to information is necessary and proportionate for the fulfilment of the tasks of the scientific panel under Article 68(2).
The request for information shall state the legal basis and the purpose of the request, specify what information is required, set a period within which the information is to be provided, and indicate the fines provided for in Article 101 for supplying incorrect, incomplete or misleading information.
The provider of the general-purpose AI model concerned, or its representative shall supply the information requested. In the case of legal persons, companies or firms, or where the provider has no legal personality, the persons authorised to represent them by law or by their statutes, shall supply the information requested on behalf of the provider of the general-purpose AI model concerned. Lawyers duly authorised to act may supply information on behalf of their clients. The clients shall nevertheless remain fully responsible if the information supplied is incomplete, incorrect or misleading.
Relevant recitals
Recital 164 Powers of the AI Office
The AI Office should be able to take the necessary actions to monitor the effective implementation of and compliance with the obligations for providers of general-purpose AI models laid down in this Regulation. The AI Office should be able to investigate possible infringements in accordance with the powers provided for in this Regulation, including by requesting documentation and information, by conducting evaluations, as well as by requesting measures from providers of general-purpose AI models. When conducting evaluations, in order to make use of independent expertise, the AI Office should be able to involve independent experts to carry out the evaluations on its behalf. Compliance with the obligations should be enforceable, inter alia, through requests to take appropriate measures, including risk mitigation measures in the case of identified systemic risks as well as restricting the making available on the market, withdrawing or recalling the model. As a safeguard, where needed beyond the procedural rights provided for in this Regulation, providers of general-purpose AI models should have the procedural rights provided for in Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, which should apply mutatis mutandis, without prejudice to more specific procedural rights provided for by this Regulation.
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
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provider
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high-impact capabilities
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AI Office
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systemic risk
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AI system
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risk
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making available on the market
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general-purpose AI model