AI Model Developers Face Obligation for Transparency Under EU Regulations
The European Union has introduced new regulations for providers of General-Purpose AI (GPAI) models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, effective from August 2, 2022. These rules, established under Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the AI Act), aim to promote transparency, enforce copyright compliance, and ensure safety and security measures for GPAI models.
Key Transparency and Intellectual Property Protection Requirements
Under the new rules, GPAI providers must maintain detailed technical documentation about their models, including summaries of the training data used. This transparency promotes understanding of how the models function and their data sources. Providers must also comply fully with EU copyright law, ensuring that their training datasets and any generated content respect intellectual property rights.
Additionally, providers are required to share relevant information with regulators and downstream users about their models, which supports oversight and informed deployment. For GPAI models posing systemic risks, stricter obligations include formal evaluations, risk mitigation strategies, incident reporting, and enhanced cybersecurity measures.
Voluntary Code of Practice
The EU has also published a voluntary Code of Practice for GPAI providers, organized into three chapters: transparency, copyright, and safety/security. Signing this Code helps providers demonstrate compliance with the mandatory AI Act requirements, reducing administrative burdens and providing legal certainty compared to alternative compliance methods.
Enforcement and Penalties
Violations of the new rules can result in fines of up to 15 million euros or three percent of the total global annual turnover. The EU AI Authority will start enforcing the new rules for AI providers from August 2026 for new models. Models that came onto the market before August 2, 2025, will be controlled from August 2027.
In Hamm, separate developments are underway. Work on noise protection walls along the A2 is scheduled to start in August, and police are expanding video surveillance around the station. Meanwhile, several national and international associations of authors, artists, and publishers have criticized the legislation, stating that it does not sufficiently protect intellectual property.
[1] Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 - The AI Act [2] EU AI Authority Guidelines [3] EU Code of Practice for GPAI Providers [4] July 2025 EU Press Release - AI Transparency and Intellectual Property Protection Requirements
- Under the new AI Act, providers of General-Purpose AI (GPAI) models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, must maintain detailed technical documentation about their models, including summaries of the training data used, to promote transparency and understanding of how the models function and their data sources.
- Providers must also comply with EU copyright law, ensuring that their training datasets and any generated content respect intellectual property rights to avoid potential violations and fines of up to 15 million euros or three percent of the total global annual turnover.
