general-purpose AI model
In plain wordsThe EU's legal name for the large, adaptable AI models behind chatbots and similar tools: models that can turn their hand to many different jobs and be built into many other products.
Under the EU AI ActEU AI Act, prop. n.: The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, the first broad AI law anywhere: it bans some uses, sets strict checks for risky ones and puts duties on the makers of the biggest AI models., an AI model of broad generality: it can do many different kinds of task well and can be built into all sorts of other systems and applications, whatever the form in which it is released. Models trained on very large datasets with self-supervisionself-supervised learning, n.: A way for AI to learn from huge amounts of unlabeled data by setting itself fill-in-the-blank puzzles, such as guessing a hidden word or a missing patch of an image. are expressly included; those used only for research, development or prototyping before they reach the market are not. Commission guidelines of July 2025 treat a model trained with more than 10²³ FLOPFLOP, n.: A single arithmetic step, such as multiplying or adding two numbers. Counting them measures how much computing went into an AI model, and laws use such counts to decide which models face extra rules. that can generate language, images or video as indicatively general-purpose. Providers must keep technical documentation for the AI OfficeAI Office, prop. n.: The European Commission's team that oversees the EU AI Act, especially the rules for the largest AI models, and coordinates how the law is applied across Europe., give 'downstream providers' who integrate the model the information they need, adopt a policy to comply with EU copyright law — including machine-readable opt-outs from text and data miningtext and data mining exception, n.: A rule in many countries' copyright laws that lets people use computers to copy and analyze large amounts of text, images or data without asking permission — sometimes only for research, sometimes unless owners opt out. — and publish a summary of training content on an official template. Open-source models are exempt from the documentation duties unless they carry systemic risk. The obligations have applied since 2 August 2025, with fines enforceable from August 2026; models already on the market before then have until 2 August 2027.
As the provider of a general-purpose AI model, we must publish a summary of our training content.
Origin
Absent from the Commission's 2021 proposal. The Council added 'general-purpose AI systems' in 2022, and after ChatGPT's release the Parliament proposed duties for foundation modelsfoundation model, n.: A very large AI model, built once at great cost from vast amounts of text, images or code gathered mostly from the internet, that many products then reuse as their starting point, from chatbots to coding tools. (2023). The political agreement of December 2023 settled on 'general-purpose AI model' with a two-tier structure that adds duties for models with systemic riskgeneral-purpose AI model with systemic risk, n.: The EU's label for the very largest and most capable AI models, whose failure or misuse could cause harm across society, so their makers must test them for dangers and report serious incidents..
Usage note
Distinct from a 'general-purpose AI system' — an AI system built on such a model — and from general-purpose AIgeneral-purpose AI, n.: AI that can do a wide range of different tasks, like writing, coding, translating and analyzing images, rather than the one job it was built for. Today's chatbots are the main example. in the everyday sense. Providers can show compliance through the General-Purpose AI Code of PracticeGeneral-Purpose AI Code of Practice, prop. n.: A voluntary rulebook, published by the EU in 2025, that makers of large AI models can sign to show they follow the EU AI Act's rules on transparency, copyright and safety..
Related
- general-purpose AI model with systemic riskgeneral-purpose AI model with systemic risk, n.: The EU's label for the very largest and most capable AI models, whose failure or misuse could cause harm across society, so their makers must test them for dangers and report serious incidents.
- General-Purpose AI Code of PracticeGeneral-Purpose AI Code of Practice, prop. n.: A voluntary rulebook, published by the EU in 2025, that makers of large AI models can sign to show they follow the EU AI Act's rules on transparency, copyright and safety.
- foundation modelfoundation model, n.: A very large AI model, built once at great cost from vast amounts of text, images or code gathered mostly from the internet, that many products then reuse as their starting point, from chatbots to coding tools.
- AI OfficeAI Office, prop. n.: The European Commission's team that oversees the EU AI Act, especially the rules for the largest AI models, and coordinates how the law is applied across Europe.
- EU AI ActEU AI Act, prop. n.: The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, the first broad AI law anywhere: it bans some uses, sets strict checks for risky ones and puts duties on the makers of the biggest AI models.
- text and data mining exceptiontext and data mining exception, n.: A rule in many countries' copyright laws that lets people use computers to copy and analyze large amounts of text, images or data without asking permission — sometimes only for research, sometimes unless owners opt out.
- general-purpose AIgeneral-purpose AI, n.: AI that can do a wide range of different tasks, like writing, coding, translating and analyzing images, rather than the one job it was built for. Today's chatbots are the main example.
Defined in law or standards
EU AI Act (Reg. (EU) 2024/1689), Art. 3(63); 'general-purpose AI system' Art. 3(66); obligations Arts. 53–54; fines Art. 101
Mentioned in
EU AI ActEU AI Act, prop. n.: The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, the first broad AI law anywhere: it bans some uses, sets strict checks for risky ones and puts duties on the makers of the biggest AI models., open-weight modelopen-weight model, n.: An AI model whose trained internal numbers are published for anyone to download and run on their own computers, even if the data and code used to make it stay private., AI modelAI model, n.: The trained core of an AI: a large file of learned numbers plus the recipe for using them, which turns an input such as a question or a photo into an output., AI OfficeAI Office, prop. n.: The European Commission's team that oversees the EU AI Act, especially the rules for the largest AI models, and coordinates how the law is applied across Europe., data provenancedata provenance, n.: The documented history of a piece of data: where it came from, who created and changed it, under what permissions, and how it was processed before reaching an AI system., Digital OmnibusDigital Omnibus, prop. n.: A European Union package, proposed in 2025, that simplified and delayed parts of its digital rules — above all pushing back the strictest requirements of the EU AI Act by more than a year., foundation modelfoundation model, n.: A very large AI model, built once at great cost from vast amounts of text, images or code gathered mostly from the internet, that many products then reuse as their starting point, from chatbots to coding tools., general-purpose AIgeneral-purpose AI, n.: AI that can do a wide range of different tasks, like writing, coding, translating and analyzing images, rather than the one job it was built for. Today's chatbots are the main example., General-Purpose AI Code of PracticeGeneral-Purpose AI Code of Practice, prop. n.: A voluntary rulebook, published by the EU in 2025, that makers of large AI models can sign to show they follow the EU AI Act's rules on transparency, copyright and safety., general-purpose AI model with systemic riskgeneral-purpose AI model with systemic risk, n.: The EU's label for the very largest and most capable AI models, whose failure or misuse could cause harm across society, so their makers must test them for dangers and report serious incidents., general-purpose technologygeneral-purpose technology, n.: A technology, like electricity or the computer, that spreads through the whole economy, keeps improving and sparks many other inventions. Many economists think AI is one., harmonised standardsharmonised standards, n.: Official European technical standards, written at the EU's request, that companies can follow to show their AI systems meet the law, instead of proving it from scratch., model cardmodel card, n.: A short document published with an AI model explaining what it is for, how it was trained and tested, how well it works for different groups of people, and its known limits., opt-outopt-out, n.: A way for creators, websites or individuals to say 'do not use my work or data to train AI' — instead of being asked for permission first, which would be opt-in., provider and deployerprovider and deployer, phr.: The two main roles in EU AI law: the provider is whoever makes an AI system and puts it out under its own name; the deployer is whoever uses it for work or official purposes., risk-based approachrisk-based approach, n.: A way of regulating AI in which the strictness of the rules depends on how much harm a use could cause: bans for the worst uses, heavy checks for risky ones, little or nothing for the rest., text and data mining exceptiontext and data mining exception, n.: A rule in many countries' copyright laws that lets people use computers to copy and analyze large amounts of text, images or data without asking permission — sometimes only for research, sometimes unless owners opt out., transparency obligationstransparency obligations, n.: EU rules requiring that people be told when they are dealing with AI: chatbots must say they are bots, AI-made content must be marked, and deepfakes must be labeled., Global Partnership on Artificial IntelligenceGlobal Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: An international group of countries, launched in 2020 and now run together with the OECD, that brings governments and experts together to put trustworthy AI into practice., intended purposeintended purpose, n.: The use a maker says its AI system is meant for. In EU law, the rules that apply to a system depend largely on this declared purpose.