Sharing of liability between the provider of an AI system and the professional who deploys it in a concrete use.
Downstream deployer liability designates the share of liability falling on the professional who implements an artificial intelligence system in a concrete context, as distinct from the provider that designed and placed it on the market. The EU AI Act precisely distinguishes these roles and assigns them different obligations: to the provider, compliant design, documentation and monitoring; to the deployer, appropriate use, human oversight, compliance with the conditions of use and, for some, the fundamental rights impact assessment. This distinction is central to insurance because it structures the sharing of liability in case of damage: a failure may stem from a design defect, engaging the provider, or from inappropriate use, engaging the deployer. The complexity of AI value chains, where a system integrates third-party models and is adapted by several actors, makes this sharing hard to establish. For the liability underwriter, identifying the insured's position in the chain, provider or deployer, is decisive to define the exposure.
A company deploying a third-party AI model to screen applications engages its deployer liability if it uses it without the required human oversight, distinct from that of the model provider.
downstream deployer, responsabilité du déployeur, deployer liability