Putting into service
Putting into service means the first supply of an AI system, in accordance with its intended purpose, directly to the deployer, or for own use, in the Union. This concept captures in-house developed systems used solely within the developing company that never enter commercial circulation.
The concept is defined in Article 3(11). Its practical significance lies in the fact that the Regulation's obligations are not limited to systems placed on the commercial market: a company that develops an AI system in-house and uses it solely in its own internal HR or decision-support process — without ever selling it or placing it on the market — thereby puts the system into service, and provider obligations apply to it if the system qualifies as high-risk. This is the most commonly overlooked trap: companies tend to assume provider obligations only arise when the system is sold to someone else, whereas in-house development for one's own purposes can trigger exactly the same legal consequence.
If a company introduces an in-house developed AI system solely for internal use — such as its own HR-screening algorithm — putting it into service can make the company a provider just as much as if it had sold the system.
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Start freeRelated terms
- Placing on the marketPlacing on the market means the first making available of an AI system or a general-purpose AI model on the Union market. Making available on the market is a broader concept, denoting repeated, ongoing commercial activity, whereas placing on the market marks that first act, to which numerous obligations — CE marking, conformity assessment — attach.
- ProviderA provider is a natural or legal person that develops an AI system or a general-purpose AI model, or has one developed, and places it on the market or puts it into service under its own name or trademark, whether for payment or free of charge. Providers bear the Regulation's most extensive package of obligations: risk management, data governance, documentation, conformity assessment, CE marking.
- High-risk AI systemAn AI system is high-risk if it is a safety component of, or is itself, a product covered by the Union product-safety legislation listed in Annex I, or if it falls within one of the eight areas and listed use cases of Annex III. Classification attaches to the intended purpose, not to the underlying technology.