Drafting of AI code of practice faces at least one month delay

Upcoming rules for developers and users of General Purpose Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), models that can perform many tasks such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and picture application Midjourney, have been pushed back by at least one month, according to a new European Commission timeline.

The Code of Practice on General Purpose Artificial Intelligence (CoP), which aims to help companies comply with the EU’s AI Act, includes transparency and copyright-related rules, risk assessment, and mitigation measures, is now set to come out in May at the earliest. 

The delay comes as the chairs of the different working groups tasked with drafting the code requested additional time to ensure that the latest document reflects the feedback they received from stakeholders, and to make it legally robust, Euronews understands from sources involved in the matter. 

The Commission in September tasked a group of independent experts from the EU, US and Canada to lead work on drafting the code. In the first session that month, some 1,000 attendees took part to help develop the Code.

A third draft was supposed to be published by 17 February, but could now come in March.

This will be followed by further working group meetings, workshops and a plenary meeting, before the final text is presented in May at the earliest.

The EU’s AI Act, which entered into force in August last year – provides stringent rules for providers of GPAI models. Most of the provisions will become effective in August 2025, but the Act will be fully applicable in 2027. 

The Commission can decide to formalize the CoP under the AI Act through an implementing act.

Welcome delay

Some tech industry players welcomed the delay, including lobby group DOT Europe, which represents companies including Amazon, Apple, Google and TikTok. 

“Given the importance of the Code, we appreciate that more time is taken to ensure its high quality. We hope that this does not come at the expense of stakeholders having enough time to comment on the next draft,” Elias Papadopoulos, Director of Policy at DOT Europe, told Euronews. 

This was echoed by Hadrien Valembois, Director of Policy, EMEA at Business Software Alliance, who told Euronews that: “While we believe that providing more time to the drafters is a good development, we are still concerned about the overall timeline which remains extremely tight.”

Last month, a group of 15 different European rightsholder organisations – the group includes News Media Europe, the Federation of European Publishers and the European Publishers Council – warned the Commission that the current draft of the CoP contradicts copyright law.

One of the signatories, News Media Europe (NME), said in a separate statement that the text should be “urgently reviewed”. 

In a statement to Euronews today, NME’s Senior Policy Manager Iacob Gammeltoft said that the delay to integrate the feedback “does not come as a surprise”.

“For press publishers, it’s better to have a delayed code that gets it right, rather than a code that completely dilutes IP rules earned under copyright law and the AI Act itself,” he added.