AI law comparison · Data verified 2026-08-22
EU AI Act vs Vietnam AI Law
EU AI Act and Vietnam AI Law 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 Vietnam AI Law tracks 5. 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 requirementsVietnam — Law on Artificial Intelligence (2025)
Vietnam's Law on Artificial Intelligence was passed by the National Assembly on December 10, 2025 and took effect March 1, 2026. It is one of the first comprehensive, standalone AI laws in Southeast Asia. The law applies to both domestic and foreign entities engaged in AI activities in Vietnam — including AI research, development, provision, deployment, and use. It establishes a three-tier risk classification system…
Full Vietnam AI Law requirementsCommon questions
Could both EU AI Act and Vietnam AI Law apply to my business?
Yes. EU AI Act and Vietnam AI Law 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… Vietnam AI Law covers Applies to both domestic and foreign organisations engaged in AI activities connected to Vietnam — research, development, provision, deployment, or use — under… 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 Vietnam AI Law?
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 Vietnam AI Law: Administrative sanctions under Vietnam's administrative-sanction decrees — system suspension, recall of non-conforming systems, and administrative fines — plus civil-code compensation for damage. NOTE: the FINAL enacted law REMOVED the revenue-based penalty (the "up to 2% of annual revenue" figure that circulated widely came from a DRAFT and is NOT in Law 134/2025/QH15). The law is in force from 1 March 2026, but existing operators have grace periods (12 months / to 1 March 2027 for most sectors; 18 months / to 1 September 2027 for health, education and finance) before full compliance is required. 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. Vietnam AI Law — effective 2026-03-01, enforcement from 2026-03-01. Dates last verified against official sources on 2026-08-22 and 2026-08-22 respectively.
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