EU AI Legislation: Commission Seeks to Reinstate Tiered Framework, Focusing on General Purpose AI
What was reported
The European Commission proposed a compromise for the EU's AI law, focusing on general-purpose AI (GPAI) models and introducing codes of practice for models with systemic risks. This proposal aims to address disagreements among EU countries about regulating powerful foundation models like GPT-4. The compromise maintains a tiered approach, differentiates between GPAI models and systems, and suggests obligations for models with systemic risks, including transparency requirements and risk mitigation measures. This is part of the final negotiation phase for the landmark AI Act.
What has happened since this was written
This piece was published on 28 November 2023, while the Regulation was still moving through the EU legislative process, so it describes a draft. Everything in the table below has happened since. Any article number, penalty figure or date in the text above should be read against the adopted and amended Regulation rather than relied on.
| Date | What happened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Aug 2024 | The Regulation enters into force | In force |
| 2 Feb 2025 | Prohibited practices and AI literacy apply | In force |
| 2 Aug 2025 | General-purpose AI model obligations apply | In force |
| 2 Aug 2026 | Transparency obligations and the general application date | In force |
| 2 Dec 2026 | Two new prohibitions and the legacy marking deadline | Upcoming |
| 2 Dec 2027 | Annex III high-risk obligations apply | Upcoming |
| 2 Aug 2028 | Annex I product-safety high-risk obligations apply | Upcoming |
| 2 Aug 2030 | Legacy large-scale IT systems must comply | Upcoming |
The text was also amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the Digital Omnibus on AI, which deferred the high-risk deadlines, added two prohibited practices, softened the Article 4 AI literacy duty and gave the AI Office direct enforcement powers.
For the position under the current text, start with the implementation timeline, the compliance checklist or our analysis. The full legal text is at the Act explorer.