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Inside the EU AI Regulatory Sandbox

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Event artwork for Inside the EU AI Regulatory Sandbox
About this event

What to expect

Get a practical briefing on the EU AI regulatory sandbox in this online session on 22 October 2026 at 6:00pm, followed by a live audience Q&A.

Hosted by Cinthify for the Demystifying AI Governance Dublin community, this free 75-minute event explains how regulatory sandboxes work under the EU AI Act, and why choosing the relevant national sandbox may be less straightforward than it first appears. There is no single “EU sandbox”: the appropriate route can depend on where your organisation, or the foundation model you build upon, is established.

What the briefing covers

The session moves from the fundamentals to the practical and legal implications of entering a sandbox:

  • What a regulatory sandbox is: a controlled, supervised process for testing and demonstrating compliance through dialogue with a regulator before market placement. It is not an exemption or a compliance holiday.
  • The mechanics and evidence: how the documented exit report can support a later conformity assessment, plus what the liability protection in Article 57(12) does, and does not, cover.
  • Penalties after market entry: why an unfit system can still face the full Article 99 penalty regime once it reaches the market.
  • Access for SMEs and start-ups: priority, reduced fees and transparent selection processes are meaningful advantages, but places remain limited and entry is not guaranteed.
  • National implementation: a direct comparison of Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium, including their differing approaches to coordination, sectoral regulation, shared access and domestic rollout.

The briefing also examines the national deadline of 2 August 2027, deferred from 2 August 2026, and explains why sandbox policy matters even if you never plan to apply. Many organisations will build on another provider’s foundation model rather than train their own, so the authority regulating that model may not be the same body operating the organisation’s local sandbox.

View the event and registration details

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