General-Purpose AI Code of Practice Now Available

The European Commission has received the final version of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice. It is a voluntary tool developed by 13 independent experts, with input from over 1,000 stakeholders, including model providers, small and medium-sized enterprises, academics, AI safety experts, rightsholders, and civil society organisations.

The Code is designed to help industry comply with the AI Act's rules on general-purpose AI, which will enter into application on 2 August. The rules become enforceable by the AI Office of the EC one year later as regards new models and two years later as regards existing models. This aims to ensure that general-purpose AI models placed on the European market, including the most powerful ones, are safe and transparent. The Code consists of three chapters: Transparency and Copyright, both addressing all providers of general-purpose AI models, and Safety and Security, relevant only to a limited number of providers of the most advanced models.

Since general-purpose AI models underpin many AI systems in the EU, the AI Act helps providers ensure sufficient transparency. This enables providers to integrate these models into their products. The Transparency chapter of the Code offers a user-friendly Model Documentation Form, which allows providers to easily document the necessary information in a single place. The Copyright chapter of the Code offers providers practical solutions to put in place a policy complying with EU copyright law.

Some general-purpose AI models could carry systemic risks, such as risks to fundamental rights and safety, including lowering barriers for the development of chemical or biological weapons, or risks related to loss of control over the model. The AI Act mandates that model providers assess and mitigate these systemic risks. The Safety and Security chapter contains relevant state-of-the-art practices for systemic risk management.

Once the Code is endorsed by the Member States and the EC, providers of general-purpose AI models who voluntarily sign the Code will be able to demonstrate compliance with the relevant AI Act obligations by adhering to the Code. In doing so, signatories to the Code will benefit from a reduced administrative burden and increased legal certainty compared to providers that prove compliance in other ways. The Code will be complemented by guidelines that will be published ahead of the entry into force of the general-purpose AI obligations. The guidelines will clarify who is in and out of scope of the AI Act's general-purpose AI rules.