The AI Act follows a tiered approach in setting the penalties for non-compliance with its various provisions, depending on the seriousness of the infringement. Non-compliance with the prohibitions in Article 5 AI Act are considered to constitute the most severe infringement and they are therefore subject to the highest fine . Providers and deployers engaging in prohibited AI practices may be fined up to EUR 35 000 000 or, if the offender is an undertaking, up to 7% of its total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.50 Each Member State should lay down rules if and to the extent that administrative fines may be imposed on public authorities and bodies established in that Member State as providers and deplo yers of AI systems. EU institutions, bodies and agencies that vi olate the prohibitions may be subject to administrative fines of up to EUR 1 500 000.51
It is possible that one and the same prohibited conduct constitutes a violation of two or more provisions of the AI Act (i.e. the non-labelling of deep fakes may also constitute a deceptive technique under Article 5(1)(a) AI Act). In such cases, the principle of ne bis in idem should be respected. In any event, the criteria for determining the penalty as provided for in Article 99(7) AI Act must be taken into account.
Since violations of the prohibitions in Article 5 AI Act interfere the most with the freedoms of others and give rise to the highest fines , their scope should be interpreted narrowly.