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Safety component

By Updated

Under the AI Act as amended in 2026, a component of a product or AI system whose intended purpose is to prevent or mitigate risks to the health and safety of persons or property, or whose failure endangers them. AI used solely for convenience, efficiency or quality control is excluded unless its failure would endanger safety 1.

Developed in
ch. 18, High-risk through products (Annex I)
Chapters
ch. 18, EU AI Act
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

2 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

  • Annex I (EU AI Act)

    The AI Act annex listing the Union harmonisation legislation under which AI is embedded in regulated products (machinery, medical devices, toys and the like)…

  • High-risk AI system

    Under the EU AI Act, an AI system that is a safety component of, or itself, a product under Annex I legislation needing third-party conformity assessment, or…

  • Intended purpose

    The use for which the provider intends an AI system, including its specific context and conditions of use.

  • AI Act (EU)

    Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the EU's horizontal, risk-tiered law for AI, amended by the Digital Omnibus.

  • AI system

    For governance, the object the AI definition brings into scope.

Sources

  1. [1] Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), consolidated text as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI, in force 27 Jul 2026; definitions in Art. 3, incl. 3(1), 3(3) to 3(14), 3(14b), 3(20), 3(22), 3(23), 3(29) to 3(32), 3(49), 3(55) to 3(57), 3(60), 3(61), 3(63), 3(68); Arts. 4, 5, 6 (incl. 6(3) third subparagraph, profiling), 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 22 to 27 (incl. 26(11)), 40, 41, 43, 47, 48, 50, 53 (incl. 53(1)(c)), 55, 57, 60, 72, 73, 86; Annexes I, III, IV). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2026-07-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Safety component. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/safety-component. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026safetycomponent,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Safety component}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/safety-component}
}