Legal edition
This week: OpenAI promises not to store your input, the AI Act is delayed but not everywhere, and fake videos are putting your verification process under pressure.
OpenAI promises business users it keeps nothing: what that does and does not solve for your confidentiality
Zero Data Retention sounds like the answer for confidential documents, but the final check remains your responsibility.
On 19 August 2026, OpenAI announced 'Zero Data Retention' (ZDR) for certain business customers using the API. This means: your prompts and the model's responses are not stored after processing and are not accessible to OpenAI staff. Your data is also not used to train the model, unless you explicitly choose that yourself. For work where confidentiality is essential, that is a significant difference from an ordinary, free chatbot.
Background for subscribersZDR makes using real documents in AI tools a conversation worth having, but only if you check the contractual terms and the client consents. The transparency obligation and the ban on certain AI practices apply right now: a chatbot without a clear disclosure is already a violation today. Use the extra time for the heavy documentation, but do not wait on the obligations that are already in force. And mark 2 December 2026 in your diary: that is when the ban on non-consensual intimate AI images takes effect.
Strict rules for high-risk AI delayed until end of 2027, but three obligations apply right now
The Digital Omnibus (Regulation EU 2026/1744) entered into force on 27 July 2026. It moves the heavy obligations for standalone high-risk AI systems (Annex III) from 2 August 2026 to 2 December 2027. For AI embedded in regulated products, the deadline has been extended further, to 2 August 2028. Importantly, the transparency obligation (Article 50), the AI literacy obligation, and the ban on certain AI practices all remain in force.
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