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Regulation Tracker / EU AI Act / Chapter V · Section 2

Article 53
Obligations for providers of general-purpose AI models

Chapter V — Classification of general-purpose AI models as general-purpose AI models with systemic risk, Section 2 — Obligations for providers of general-purpose AI models. 10 distinct duties, powers or definitions are coded from this article, applying from 2025-08-02.

Amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI), in force 2026-07-27 — about 44 words changed. The text below is the consolidated version of 27 July 2026; the 2024 text and the amending regulation are on EUR-Lex.

official text: EUR-Lex (consolidated 27 Jul 2026) · text © European Union (Decision 2011/833/EU) · coding CC BY 4.0 · data: obligations.json · Hugging Face · GitHub

The text

1. Providers of general-purpose AI models shall:

  1. (a)draw up and keep up-to-date the technical documentation of the model, including its training and testing process and the results of its evaluation, which shall contain, at a minimum, the information set out in Annex XI for the purpose of providing it, upon request, to the AI Office and the national competent authorities;
  2. (b)draw up, keep up-to-date and make available information and documentation to providers of AI systems who intend to integrate the general-purpose AI model into their AI systems. Without prejudice to the need to observe and protect intellectual property rights and confidential business information or trade secrets in accordance with Union and national law, the information and documentation shall: (i) enable providers of AI systems to have a good understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the general-purpose AI model and to comply with their obligations pursuant to this Regulation; and (ii) contain, at a minimum, the elements set out in Annex XII;
  3. (c)put in place a policy to comply with Union law on copyright and related rights, and in particular to identify and comply with, including through state-of-the-art technologies, a reservation of rights expressed pursuant to Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790;
  4. (d)draw up and make publicly available a sufficiently detailed summary about the content used for training of the general-purpose AI model, according to a template provided by the AI Office.

2. The obligations set out in paragraph 1, points (a) and (b), shall not apply to providers of AI models that are released under a free and open-source licence that allows for the access, usage, modification, and distribution of the model, and whose parameters, including the weights, the information on the model architecture, and the information on model usage, are made publicly available. This exception shall not apply to general-purpose AI models with systemic risks.

3. Providers of general-purpose AI models shall cooperate as necessary with the Commission and the national competent authorities in the exercise of their competences and powers pursuant to this Regulation.

4. Providers of general-purpose AI models may rely on codes of practice within the meaning of Article 56 to demonstrate compliance with the obligations set out in paragraph 1 of this Article, until a harmonised standard is published. Compliance with European harmonised standards grants providers the presumption of conformity to the extent that those standards cover those obligations. Providers of general-purpose AI models who do not adhere to an approved code of practice or do not comply with a European harmonised standard shall demonstrate alternative adequate means of compliance for assessment by the Commission.

5. For the purpose of facilitating compliance with Annex XI, in particular points 2 (d) and (e) thereof, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 97 to detail measurement and calculation methodologies with a view to allowing for comparable and verifiable documentation.

6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 97(2) to amend Annexes XI and XII in light of evolving technological developments.

7. Any information or documentation obtained pursuant to this Article, including trade secrets, shall be treated in accordance with the confidentiality obligations set out in Article 78.

What it requires, coded

SafeLegalAI's reading of each duty in this article: who, what, from when, under which fine tier, and whether it reaches a firm, chambers, court or legal-AI vendor. Descriptive, not advice; the quoted words are the Regulation's.

  1. Art. 53(1) (a)DocumentationGeneral-purpose AI

    Providers of GPAI models must draw up and keep current technical documentation of the model, including training, testing and evaluation results, with at least Annex XI information for provision to the AI Office and national competent authorities on request.

    "draw up and keep up-to-date the technical documentation of the model, including its training and testing process and the results of its evaluation"
    Who
    GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113(b))Under Art. 111(3), providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2025-08-02 must take the necessary steps to comply with Chapter V obligations by 2027-08-02.
    Fine tier
    Art. 101
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Medium for vendors that provide GPAI models used in legal-AI products.
    See
    Annex XI · AI Office · National competent authorities

  2. Art. 53(1) (b)DocumentationGeneral-purpose AI

    Providers of GPAI models must draw up, keep current and make available information and documentation for AI-system providers that intend to integrate the model, enabling understanding of capabilities and limitations and regulatory compliance.

    "draw up, keep up-to-date and make available information and documentation to providers of AI systems who intend to integrate the general-purpose AI model into their AI systems"
    Who
    GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113(b))Under Art. 111(3), providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2025-08-02 must take the necessary steps to comply with Chapter V obligations by 2027-08-02.
    Fine tier
    Art. 101
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Medium for GPAI vendors supplying model documentation to downstream legal-AI providers.
    See
    Annex XII

  3. Art. 53(1) (c)RequirementGeneral-purpose AI

    Providers of GPAI models must put in place a policy to comply with Union copyright and related-rights law, including identifying and complying with machine-readable rights reservations under Directive (EU) 2019/790.

    "put in place a policy to comply with Union law on copyright and related rights, and in particular to identify and comply with, including through state-of-the-art technologies, a reservation of rights"
    Who
    GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113(b))Under Art. 111(3), providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2025-08-02 must take the necessary steps to comply with Chapter V obligations by 2027-08-02.
    Fine tier
    Art. 101
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Medium for GPAI vendors whose models may be used by legal-AI systems and trained on protected content.
    See
    Directive (EU) 2019/790 Art. 4(3)

  4. Art. 53(1) (d)TransparencyGeneral-purpose AI

    Providers of GPAI models must draw up and make publicly available a sufficiently detailed summary of training content using the AI Office template.

    "draw up and make publicly available a sufficiently detailed summary about the content used for training of the general-purpose AI model, according to a template provided by the AI Office"
    Who
    GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113(b))Under Art. 111(3), providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2025-08-02 must take the necessary steps to comply with Chapter V obligations by 2027-08-02.
    Fine tier
    Art. 101
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Medium for GPAI vendors and downstream legal-AI providers evaluating training-content disclosures.
    See
    AI Office

  5. Art. 53(2)Derogation or exemptionGeneral-purpose AI

    The Article 53(1)(a) and (b) documentation duties do not apply to qualifying free and open-source AI models with public parameters, weights, architecture and usage information, but the exception does not cover systemic-risk GPAI models.

    "This exception shall not apply to general-purpose AI models with systemic risks"
    Who
    GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113(b))
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Relevant to legal-AI vendors relying on open-source GPAI models; systemic-risk models remain covered.
    See
    Art. 53(1)(a) · Art. 53(1)(b)

  6. Art. 53(3)Cooperation with authoritiesGeneral-purpose AI

    Providers of GPAI models must cooperate as necessary with the Commission and national competent authorities when those authorities exercise their AI Act competences and powers.

    "Providers of general-purpose AI models shall cooperate as necessary with the Commission and the national competent authorities in the exercise of their competences and powers pursuant to this Regulation"
    Who
    GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113(b))Under Art. 111(3), providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2025-08-02 must take the necessary steps to comply with Chapter V obligations by 2027-08-02.
    Fine tier
    Art. 101
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Medium for GPAI vendors active in legal AI when Commission or national authorities request cooperation.
    See
    Commission · National competent authorities

  7. Art. 53(4)Cooperation with authoritiesGeneral-purpose AI

    Providers of GPAI models may rely on codes of practice until harmonised standards are published; providers not adhering to an approved code or European harmonised standard must demonstrate alternative adequate compliance means to the Commission.

    "Providers of general-purpose AI models who do not adhere to an approved code of practice or do not comply with a European harmonised standard shall demonstrate alternative adequate means of compliance for assessment by the Commission"
    Who
    GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113(b))Under Art. 111(3), providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2025-08-02 must take the necessary steps to comply with Chapter V obligations by 2027-08-02.
    Fine tier
    Art. 101
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Medium for GPAI vendors choosing compliance routes for models incorporated into legal-AI systems.
    See
    Art. 56

  8. Art. 53(5)Delegated or implementing actGeneral-purpose AI

    The Commission may adopt delegated acts under Article 97 to detail measurement and calculation methodologies that allow comparable and verifiable Annex XI documentation.

    "the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 97 to detail measurement and calculation methodologies with a view to allowing for comparable and verifiable documentation"
    Who
    Commission
    From
    (Art. 113(b))
    Legal practice
    Institutional — Institutional power indirectly affects GPAI documentation available to legal-AI vendors.
    See
    Art. 97 · Annex XI

  9. Art. 53(6)Delegated or implementing actGeneral-purpose AI

    The Commission may adopt delegated acts under Article 97(2) to amend Annexes XI and XII in light of evolving technological developments.

    "The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 97(2) to amend Annexes XI and XII in light of evolving technological developments"
    Who
    Commission
    From
    (Art. 113(b))
    Legal practice
    Institutional — Institutional power indirectly changes GPAI documentation requirements for legal-AI vendors.
    See
    Art. 97(2) · Annex XI · Annex XII

  10. Art. 53(7)Governance institutionalGeneral-purpose AI

    Information and documentation obtained under Article 53, including trade secrets, must be treated according to Article 78 confidentiality obligations.

    "Any information or documentation obtained pursuant to this Article, including trade secrets, shall be treated in accordance with the confidentiality obligations set out in Article 78"
    Who
    Commission, AI Office, National competent authority
    From
    (Art. 113(b))
    Legal practice
    Institutional — Protects confidential GPAI information that may include legal-AI vendor or model-provider materials.
    See
    Art. 78

Cite

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 53 (Obligations for providers of general-purpose AI models), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, consolidated text of 27 July 2026, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng#art_53 — text © European Union; only the Official Journal is authentic. Coding: SafeLegalAI (published by Cognesio LLP), "EU AI Act, structured", safelegalai.com/regulation/eu-ai-act/article-53, accessed 2026-09-08, CC BY 4.0.