OpenAI Announces Intent to Sign the EU AI Act's Code of Practice and Nudges Europe to Innovate

OpenAI Announces Intent to Sign the EU AI Act's Code of Practice and Nudges Europe to Innovate
Source: unsplash - Carl Gruner

OpenAI officially announced on July 11, 2025, its intention to sign the EU AI Act's Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI, committing the company to standards of safety, transparency, and accountability within the European regulatory framework. The move is significant as OpenAI becomes the first major AI developer to publicly commit to signing the code, potentially setting a precedent for other industry players. The company also emphasized its active participation in the upcoming NUDGES Europe conference, which focuses on streamlining European AI regulation and creating an innovation-friendly environment.

OpenAI's commitment covers all key areas of the EU AI Act, including system modeling and evaluation, risk management, safety testing, cybersecurity, and content labeling and traceability. According to Anna Makanju, OpenAI's Vice President of Global Affairs, the company supports the EU's efforts to ensure safe AI development and will develop its systems in compliance with the regulations. Additionally, OpenAI is actively collaborating on industry standards development and has introduced its own C.L.A.R.I.T.Y. framework, which mandates transparency in key areas such as the use of advanced AI models and synthetic data. The company's position is that effective AI regulation must balance safety considerations with innovation opportunities, particularly as the EU AI Act is expected to come into full effect by 2026, although certain provisions have already become effective as of August 2024.

OpenAI's involvement with the NUDGES Europe initiative aims to promote European AI innovation and competitiveness through regulatory framework development. OpenAI's commitment to the EU AI Act sets a particularly important precedent as the company's GPT-4 model falls under the scope of the code, making it the first such large language model to be subject to the new regulations. According to the company, signing the Code of Practice reinforces OpenAI's commitment to safe and responsible AI development while supporting the growth of Europe's innovation ecosystem.

Sources:

EU Code of Practice
The EU Code of Practice and the Future of AI in Europe OpenAI announces its intention to sign the EU’s voluntary General-Purpose AI Code of Practice—aimed at aligning with the EU AI Act and empowering responsible innovation across Europe.
OpenAI commits to EU code of practice for general-purpose AI models
MLex Summary: OpenAI announced today that it intends to sign a voluntary code of practice meant to facilitate the compliance with the EU AI Act’s rules for general-purpose AI models that will go into effect on Aug. 2. The code still needs to be confirmed as an official compliance tool under the European law following a so-called adequacy assessment. OpenAI is the second leading AI company that agreed to sign the code, following France’s Mistral AI, whereas other model providers are still yet to declare whether they will commit to the code’s measures or figure out how to comply with the regulation on their own.
🚨 BREAKING: OpenAI announces it intends to sign the EU AI Act's Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI and NUDGES Europe to innovate and simplify: | Luiza Jarovsky, PhD posted on the topic | LinkedIn
🚨 BREAKING: OpenAI announces it intends to sign the EU AI Act’s Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI and NUDGES Europe to innovate and simplify: Yesterday, OpenAI published an official announcement stating that it intends to sign the EU AI Act’s Code of Practice, whose final draft is still subject to being assessed and approved by the EU AI Board. A reminder that the Code of Practice is voluntary, and companies can still comply with the EU AI Act without signing it. OpenAI’s announcement, therefore, is a big deal for Europe, as one of the world’s leading AI companies is publicly signaling that it’s “all in.” However, in the corporate world, everything is carefully planned, reviewed, and strategized. Nothing is by chance, and every announcement has a goal. OpenAI would not give the EU this big hug for free. While reading their announcement, I couldn’t help but notice that OpenAI strongly nudges the EU to focus on innovation, such as in this excerpt: “Too often in Europe, the limelight has been taken by regulation. Now it’s time to flip the script and use this moment to empower Europe’s innovators to innovate and builders to build for Europe’s future.” OpenAI also reminds the EU that they expect them to simplify: “We have advocated⁠ for greater simplification and harmonization to support these next generation companies and will continue to back their concerns, as they are key to AI of, by and for Europe.” Lastly, OpenAI also tells the EU that it must assess how its regulatory framework is affecting AI adoption and focus on closing its productivity gap with the U.S. Remember, there are no free hugs in the corporate world. OpenAI is strongly signaling that it wants the EU to change its priorities. - Leaving the PR/strategic elements aside, it’s great that OpenAI intends to sign the Code of Practice. What companies will be the next ones to do the same? - 👉 NEVER MISS my updates and analyses on AI. Join my newsletter’s 67,000+ subscribers (link below). | 74 comments on LinkedIn