BRUSSELS

The European Union on Friday moved a step closer to banning artificial intelligence tools that generate fake sexual images of individuals without their consent after member states agreed on a new negotiating position to update the bloc's landmark Artificial Intelligence Act.

The European Council endorsed amendments that would explicitly prohibit AI systems used to create non-consensual sexual or intimate content, including deepfake imagery, as well as material involving child sexual abuse.

Sexual deepfakes typically involve manipulating real photos or videos of individuals with AI to create realistic but fabricated explicit content.

The new provision would make it illegal to deploy AI tools designed to generate such material, expanding safeguards in the EU's broader framework governing artificial intelligence.

The decision forms part of a wider legislative update proposed by the European Commission to simplify certain elements of the AI rulebook while ensuring stronger protections against harmful uses of the technology.

EU member states said the ban reflects growing concern about the misuse of generative AI to create sexually explicit deepfakes, including those involving children.

Alongside the new ban, EU countries backed plans to delay the application of some rules for high-risk AI systems to give regulators and companies more time to prepare.

The revised position also restores obligations for providers to register certain AI systems in the EU's database for high-risk technologies and keeps strict conditions on processing sensitive personal data to detect and correct bias in AI models.

The EU states' position now opens the way for negotiations with the European Parliament to finalize changes to the AI Act, the world's first comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence.