EU guidelines for businesses to adhere to AI regulations will emphasize copyright and safety.

A practice code to assist businesses in adhering to the European Union’s significant AI regulations will emphasize transparency, copyright, safety, and security, underscoring the EU’s effort to establish worldwide AI benchmarks in the face of swift developments, the European Commission announced on Thursday. Joining the code is optional, but businesses that choose not to will miss out on the legal assurance granted to those who do sign.

The remarks were made as the EU commission unveiled a final version of the guidance, created by 13 independent specialists.

The AI regulations, which will be implemented gradually, will affect Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Meta (Facebook’s parent company), Google’s Alphabet, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and various other firms. The EU’s AI Act, effective since last June, enforces stringent transparency requirements for high-risk AI systems, while imposing less stringent obligations on general-purpose AI models. It limits governments’ utilization of real-time biometric monitoring in public areas to instances associated with specific offenses or the thwarting of terrorist activities.

The regulations for large language model AI (GPAI) will be legally enforceable starting August 2. It will not take effect until a year later for new models released on the market beginning next month. Current models will have until August 2, 2027, to adhere to the regulations. Although the guidelines on transparency and copyright will affect all GPAI providers, the sections concerning safety and security are directed at suppliers of the most sophisticated models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta’s Llama, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude.

“Co-designed by AI stakeholders, the Code is aligned with their needs. Therefore, I invite all general-purpose AI model providers to adhere to the Code. Doing so will secure them a clear, collaborative route to compliance with the EU’s AI Act,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said.

EU countries and the Commission will need to give the green light before the code can be implemented, tentatively expected at the end of the year.