Brussels, 30 July 2ß24
Today, the Commission has launched a consultation on a Code of Practice for providers of general-purpose Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) models. The Commission invites GPAI providers with operations in the EU, businesses, civil society representatives, rights holders and academic experts to submit their views and findings, which will feed into the Commission’s upcoming draft of the Code of Practice on GPAI models. Interested parties are also invited to provide input on ensuring trustworthy general-purpose AI models in the EU.
The Code of Practice, foreseen by the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), will address critical areas such as transparency, copyright-related rules, risk identification and assessment, risk mitigation, and internal risk management.
In addition, the feedback from the consultation will also inform the work of the AI Office, which will supervise the implementation and enforcement of the AI Act rules on GPAI. The AI Office is developing a template and guidelines for summarising training data, used to build the GPAI model. The template and guidelines will be adopted by the Commission and contribute to further discussions on the Code.
The AI Act, which enters into force on 1 August 2024, aims to foster responsible AI development and deployment in the EU. The provisions on GPAI will enter into application 12 months after the AI Act enters into force. The Commission expects to finalise the Code of Practice by April 2025.
Participants can find more information on the consultation on the Code of Practice for GPAI here, as well as information on how to join the upcoming drafting process here.
AI Act: Have Your Say on Trustworthy General-Purpose AI
This comes in addition to the call for expression of interest to participate in the drawing-up of the first General-Purpose AI Code of Practice between September 2024 and April 2025.
The consultation is an opportunity for all stakeholders to have their say on the topics covered by the first Code of Practice, which will detail out rules for general-purpose AI model providers. The consultation will also inform related work by the AI Office, in particular on the template for the summary of the content used for the training of the general-purpose AI models and the accompanying guidance.
All interested parties are encouraged to participate. The AI Office invites submissions from a broad range of stakeholders, including academia, independent experts, industry representatives such as general-purpose AI model providers or downstream providers integrating the model into their AI systems, civil society organisations, rightsholders, and public authorities.
The consultation is available in English and responses can be submitted via this form over a period of seven weeks. Submissions must be completed by Tuesday, 10 September 2024, 18:00 CET. Early submissions are encouraged.
The questionnaire for this consultation is divided into three sections:
- General-purpose AI models: transparency and copyright-related provisions
- General-purpose AI models with systemic risk: risk taxonomy, assessment and mitigation
- Reviewing and monitoring the Codes of Practice for general-purpose AI models
At the end of the questionnaire, you have the option to upload one document to share further information with the AI Office. We provide a template which aligns with the topics covered in the Code of Practice.
Based on the submissions and answers to the targeted questions, an initial draft of the Code of Practice will be developed. The section in the Code on the summary of the model training content should take into account the template to be provided by the AI Office that will also be informed by the submissions to the multi-stakeholder consultation.
The AI Office will publish a summary of the results of the consultation. Results will be based on aggregated data and respondents will not be directly quoted.
Further information on the AI Act’s regulation of general-purpose AI models, Codes of Practice, and related activities by the AI Office can be found in the background document.
Downloads
AI Act: Participate in the drawing-up of the first General-Purpose AI Code of Practice
The European AI Office invites eligible general-purpose AI model providers, downstream providers and other industry organisations, other stakeholder organisations such as civil society organisations or rightsholders organisations, as well as academia and other independent experts to express their interest to participate in the drawing-up of the Code of Practice.
The Code will be prepared in an iterative drafting process by April 2025, 9 months from the AI Act’s entry into force on 1 August 2024. The Code will facilitate the proper application of the rules of the AI Act for general-purpose AI models.
You can express your interest by 25 August 2024, 18:00 CET, through this application form.
At the same time, the AI Office launched a Multi-stakeholder consultation on trustworthy general-purpose AI models under the AI Act. The consultation is an opportunity for all stakeholders to have their say on the topics covered by this Code of Practice.
The Code of Practice will detail the AI Act rules for providers of general-purpose AI models and general-purpose AI models with systemic risks. These rules will apply 12 months after the entry into force of the AI Act. Providers should be able to rely on the Code of Practice to demonstrate compliance.
The AI Office facilitates an iterative drafting process to ensure that the Code of Practice effectively addresses the AI Act rules. This includes transparency and copyright-related rules for all general-purpose AI models as well as a systemic risk taxonomy, risk assessment and mitigation measures. It is an inclusive and transparent approach which benefits from the input of all relevant stakeholders.
Interested and eligible general-purpose AI model providers and stakeholders will be part of a Code of Practice Plenary. The AI Office will verify eligibility on the basis of the expressions of interest and confirm participation to respective stakeholders.
The Plenary will be structured in four Working Groups on specific topics. Participants will be free to choose one or more Working Groups they wish to engage in. Meetings are conducted exclusively online. Following a kick-off Plenary in September, the participants will convene three times virtually for drafting rounds between September 2024 and April 2025 with discussions organised in Working Groups. Participants can express comments during each of those meetings or within two weeks in writing.
The AI Office will appoint Chairs and, as appropriate, Vice-Chairs for each of the four Working Groups of the Plenary, responsible for synthesising submissions from the consultation and plenary participants. Interested independent experts can apply for such a role.
As the main addressees of the Code, providers of general-purpose AI models will be invited to dedicated workshops with the Chairs and Vice-Chairs to contribute to informing each iterative drafting round, in addition to their Plenary participation. The AI Office will ensure transparency into these discussions, such as by drawing-up meeting minutes and making these available to all Plenary participants.
The final version of the first Code of Practice will be presented in a Closing Plenary, expected to take place in April, and published. The Closing Plenary gives general-purpose AI model providers the opportunity to express themselves whether they would envisage to use the Code.
After publication of the Code, the AI Office and the AI Board will assess its adequacy and publish this assessment. The Commission may decide to approve the Code of Practice and give it a general validity within the Union by means of an implementing act. If the Code of Practice is not deemed adequate, the Commission will provide common rules for the implementation of the relevant obligations.
For all relevant information, please read the Call for Expression of Interest carefully.
You can get in touch with the European AI Office for inquiries related to the call for expression of interest through our functional mailbox.
Downloads
Call for Expression of Interest General-Purpose AI Code of Practice: Download
Graphics Code of Practice – Drafting: Download
Graphics Code of Practice – Timeline: Download
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