# Commission Guidelines on prohibited AI practices and on the definition of an AI system under the AI Act

- **Jurisdiction:** European Union (EU)
- **Type:** Guideline · **Status:** In force · **Binding:** no
- **Issued by:** European Commission
- **Proposed:** — · **Adopted:** 4 Feb 2025 · **Effective:** 2 Feb 2025
- **Obligations:** Prohibited uses, Risk classification
- **Sectors:** All sectors

## Summary
Two non-binding Commission guidelines explaining, with examples, the AI practices banned under Article 5 (e.g., harmful manipulation, social scoring, workplace emotion recognition, real-time remote biometric identification) and how to decide whether software is an 'AI system' within the Act's scope. They address providers, deployers and market surveillance authorities.

## Why it matters
These are the reference texts regulators use to judge whether a product is in scope and whether a use is banned.

## Source
[European Commission - Shaping Europe's digital future](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-publishes-guidelines-prohibited-artificial-intelligence-ai-practices-defined-ai-act) · [secondary](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-publishes-guidelines-ai-system-definition-facilitate-first-ai-acts-rules-application)
Checked against the source on 4 Oct 2026. Prohibited-practices guidelines published 4 Feb 2025; AI-system definition guidelines 6 Feb 2025.

## Cite
Commission Guidelines on prohibited AI practices and on the definition of an AI system under the AI Act. European Commission. Status: In force. wheresthe.ai, https://wheresthe.ai/rule/eu-guidelines-prohibited-practices-ai-definition-2025/ (verified 4 Oct 2026).

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Canonical page: https://wheresthe.ai/rule/eu-guidelines-prohibited-practices-ai-definition-2025/ · Not legal advice.