AI Liability Directive

The AI Liability Directive was a European Commission proposal intended to complement the AI Act by harmonizing the civil liability rules applicable to damage caused by AI systems. Its ambition was to ease the burden of proof on victims, by introducing presumptions of causation and evidence-access mechanisms, to address the opacity of algorithmic systems that makes establishing a liability link difficult. In 2025, the Commission announced the withdrawal of this proposal, for lack of consensus and in a context of regulatory simplification, leaving AI-related civil liability to be handled by existing law and the revised product liability directive. This withdrawal creates uncertainty for liability insurers: in the absence of a specific harmonized framework, establishing liability for damage caused by an AI remains fragmented across national regimes, which complicates pricing and cover design.