EU Releases General-Purpose AI Code to Guide AI Act Compliance

The European Commission has introduced a General-Purpose AI Code of Practice, offering a voluntary strategic compliance framework prior to the enactment of the EU’s AI Act. A Complex Discovery blog post reports that as general-purpose AI tools have become integral to enterprises, the Code provides professionals with actionable guidance on transparency, copyright compliance, and systemic safety risks.

Unveiled on July 10, the GPAI Code reflects the collaboration of 13 experts and input from over 1,000 stakeholders, including AI developers, academics, and legal professionals. It will be released on August 2, 2025, just weeks before the AI Act takes effect. Although nonbinding, the Code’s impact will be to help providers and users prepare for compliance.

For information governance, eDiscovery, and cybersecurity professionals, the Code is more than policy. It’s a practical guide for GPAI models embedded in tools and platforms used for document analysis, data preservation, and threat detection. The Code establishes a precedent for how these systems should be documented, secured, and implemented. It outlines audit-ready data collection practices, ensures training data transparency, and provides AI supply chain visibility.

The GPAI Code provides a structured framework that is organized into three chapters. The first chapter outlines transparency measures through a Model Documentation Form, which consolidates required information and provides a window into how models work and where risks may arise. The second chapter addresses copyrights with concrete steps for compliance with EU intellectual property laws, and the third chapter applies to high-risk models, providing cybersecurity teams with clear standards for managing potential systemic threats.

Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen framed the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice as a collaborative effort that aligns innovation with accountability. Additional guidance is expected before the AI Act’s provisions take effect, reinforcing the Commission’s shift from theoretical regulation to usable tools.