More than 40 of the most powerful CEOs of European technology companies asked the European Commission to delay the AI Act deadlines. The Commission responded unequivocally: \u201cno stop the clock, no grace period, no pause.\u201d If your company uses AI models by building products on them, integrating APIs or deploying chatbots, the deadlines are running. Duties for general-purpose AI (GPAI) model providers have applied since 2 August 2025. Full application of the rules for high-risk AI systems<\/a> begins on 2 August 2026.<\/p>\n This article explains what that means for your technology company. It sets out how AI Act duties depend on your role, what the GPAI Code of Practice is, why Meta\u2019s refusal matters to purchasing decisions and what to do over the coming months.<\/p>\n Before getting into the details, it helps to clarify the terminology. The AI Act introduces concepts that directly determine the scope of your obligations.<\/p>\nKey terms you need to know<\/h2>\n
| Term<\/th>\n | Meaning<\/th>\n | Why it matters to you<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPAI model (general-purpose AI model)<\/td>\n | A model capable of performing a wide range of tasks and capable of being integrated into various systems, such as GPT-4, Claude, Llama or Mistral. It is one type of AI system<\/a>.<\/td>\n | If you build a product on such a model, you have deployer duties. If you create the model, you have provider duties.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| GPAI provider<\/td>\n | An entity that develops a GPAI model and places it on the market under its own name.<\/td>\n | The full set of Chapter V AI Act duties, including documentation, copyright and safety.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| Deployer<\/td>\n | An entity using an AI system under its own control in its professional activity.<\/td>\n | Duties under Chapters III and IV of the AI Act, including human oversight, transparency and AI literacy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| Systemic risk<\/td>\n | A GPAI model whose training compute exceeds 10^25 FLOPs, or which the Commission considers capable of having a high impact.<\/td>\n | Additional duties, including safety testing, incident reporting and cybersecurity.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| GPAI Code of Practice<\/td>\n | A voluntary code approved by the Commission that gives a presumption of conformity with the AI Act.<\/td>\n | Signing makes it easier to demonstrate compliance. Without signing, conformity must be demonstrated by other means.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| AI literacy<\/td>\n | The duty to ensure that employees understand AI systems’ capabilities, limitations and risks.<\/td>\n | It has applied since 2 February 2025 and covers every company using AI.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nThe Commission refused to suspend the AI Act. What does that change?<\/h2>\nThe EU AI Champions initiative brought together about 50 CEOs of Europe\u2019s largest technology companies. They argued that the rules were unclear, technical standards were missing and the timetable was too ambitious. The Commission did not accept those demands. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regner confirmed that there would be no postponement, grace period or pause.<\/p>\n For companies that built their compliance strategy on the assumption that \u201cthere will be a delay anyway,\u201d there is now very little time to catch up.<\/p>\n The timetable already in force or approaching is:<\/p>\n
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