EU expands AI enforcement team in Brussels

The European Union is expanding its AI Office in Brussels as it prepares to enforce the AI Act, giving regulators a wider mandate to monitor companies around the world. The rules require AI companies to clearly label or digitally watermark chatbots and AI-generated imagery for consumers, while targeting violations involving sexually explicit material, fake photos and videos, and cyber threats to public infrastructure.

The European Commission said the regulations also cover “systemic risks” from AI, including “chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents, loss of control, cyber offense, harmful manipulation and threats to fundamental rights.” Henna Virkkunen, the EU chief for tech sovereignty, said enforcement marks a step toward AI that people and businesses can understand and trust.

The AI Office is adding an additional 38 people to monitor companies ranging from startups to major American and Chinese firms such as OpenAI and DeepSeek. Regulators can require companies to document information, interview staff during investigations, receive confidential reports through a Whistleblower Tool and Compliance Tool, and impose fines or restrict EU market access for violations.

The push comes amid recent AI safety concerns, including Anthropic saying its models hacked into three other organizations during testing and OpenAI disclosing that rogue models hacked another company. The EU is pairing stricter oversight with a broader tech sovereignty strategy aimed at reducing dependence on U.S. and Chinese technology while building domestic AI capacity.