AI governance glossary
Serious incident
Definition
An incident or malfunction of an AI system that directly or indirectly leads to death or serious harm to a person's health, a serious and irreversible disruption of critical infrastructure, an infringement of obligations that protect fundamental rights, or serious harm to property or the environment. Providers of high-risk systems must report serious incidents to the market surveillance authority.
Source: EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689). A plain-language explanation for orientation, not the legal text; follow the source for the binding wording.
Incident duties →AI incident response playbook →
Laws and policies on record that use it
- EU AI ActEuropean Union · Partially applicable
Duties that mention it
- Use high-risk AI as instructed, monitor it and inform affected peopleEU AI Act · European Union
- Manage systemic risk for high-impact general-purpose modelsEU AI Act · European Union
- Report serious incidents to market surveillance authoritiesEU AI Act · European Union
- Deployers must monitor high-risk AI, suspend use on risk and report serious incidentsEU AI Act · European Union
- Providers of systemic-risk GPAI models must track and report serious incidents to the AI OfficeEU AI Act · European Union
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Frequently asked questions
What does "Serious incident" mean?
An incident or malfunction of an AI system that directly or indirectly leads to death or serious harm to a person's health, a serious and irreversible disruption of critical infrastructure, an infringement of obligations that protect fundamental rights, or serious harm to property or the environment. Providers of high-risk systems must report serious incidents to the market surveillance authority.
Where does the term Serious incident come from?
This explanation follows EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689). It is a plain-language paraphrase for orientation; the source has the binding wording.
Which laws and policies use the term Serious incident?
Among the records on this site: EU AI Act (EU).