AI law comparison · Data verified 2026-08-22
EU AI Act vs Montana Right to Compute Act
EU AI Act and Montana Right to Compute Act are two of the 169 AI and data regulations Aegis Firma tracks. They have different scopes, effective dates, and penalties — and many businesses fall under both. Here is the side-by-side, drawn directly from the regulatory registry.
Find which laws apply to my businessSide by side
Summary of publicly available regulatory text. Verify against current official sources before relying on this for compliance decisions. Not legal advice.
The key difference
EU AI Act takes effect first, so it is usually the more urgent of the two. EU AI Act tracks 10 compliance requirements and Montana Right to Compute Act tracks 1. They are not interchangeable — meeting one does not discharge the other. The practical question is not which law is “stricter,” but which of them — or both — actually applies to your business.
EU Artificial Intelligence Act
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — the world's first comprehensive AI law. Classifies AI systems by risk: prohibited (social scoring, subliminal manipulation), high-risk (Annex III: HR, credit, education, critical infrastructure, law enforcement), limited-risk (transparency obligations for chatbots and deepfakes), minimal-risk (most AI tools). Providers AND deployers have obligations. Extraterritorial: applies when the AI s…
Full EU AI Act requirementsMontana Right to Compute Act + AI Governance (SB 212)
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 212 (the Montana Right to Compute Act) on April 17, 2025 — the first US state law affirming a right to own and use computational resources. The enacted law has two real, verified components: (1) it establishes a fundamental right to privately own and use computational resources (hardware, software, AI tools) for lawful purposes, applying strict scrutiny to any govern…
Full Montana Right to Compute Act requirementsCommon questions
Could both EU AI Act and Montana Right to Compute Act apply to my business?
Yes. EU AI Act and Montana Right to Compute Act are separate regulations with separate scopes — a business can fall under both at once. EU AI Act covers Applies to: (1) providers placing AI systems on EU market or putting into service, (2) deployers using AI systems within EU, (3) providers/deployers in third co… Montana Right to Compute Act covers Applies in two layers. If your operations meet both scopes, you must comply with both. Aegis Firma's free scan checks all 169 tracked regulations against your business profile so you do not have to read each law to find out.
Which has the higher maximum penalty — EU AI Act or Montana Right to Compute Act?
EU AI Act: €35,000,000 or 7% of global annual turnover (whichever higher) for prohibited AI; €15M or 3% for high-risk violations; €7.5M or 1% for incorrect information to authorities Montana Right to Compute Act: No statutory monetary penalty specified in SB 212 itself for the risk-management-policy duty; the Right to Compute strict-scrutiny provision is a constraint on government action, enforceable via civil litigation/injunctive relief, not a penalty schedule. Penalty structures differ by regulator and violation type — read each law's full page for the cure periods and per-violation detail.
When does each law take effect?
EU AI Act — effective 2024-08-01, enforcement from 2026-08-02. Montana Right to Compute Act — effective 2025-04-17. Dates last verified against official sources on 2026-08-22 and 2026-08-22 respectively.
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