Defining AI Systems in the EU and Beyond

Abstract The aim of this article is to assess the current global reach of the European Union’s regulatory influence on AI. This analysis focuses on how an “AI system” is defined in the final EU AI Act and presents the hypothesis that the more rigid the definition of AI systems is, the less global the reach of the EU AI Act’s standards will be, especially in countries with a strong tendency towards AI sovereignty. A qualitative comparative analysis of four case studies (Brazil, Canada, Chile, USA) reveals persistent divergences centred on the material scope of AI systems. In turn, the global reach of the EU AI Act seems rather limited at best in the long term.