On Wednesday, the AI Office will host its first general-purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI) model provider workshop as part of the (still) obscure drafting process of the GPAI Code of Practice (CoP).
The CoP is a key part of AI Act implementation, as it will detail how providers of GPAI models like ChatGPT can comply with relevant AI Act provisions, until harmonised standards are set.
The drafting will involve a "plenary" with almost 1,000 participants, to be fed by a stakeholder consultation. But there will also be closed-doors meetings between GPAI providers and the chairs and vice-chairs of the four working groups drafting the code.
No one is particularly happy with how the process is shaping up.
With almost 1,000 participants in the plenary, the chairs of the working groups might have a lot of influence, representatives from industry and civil society said at a roundtable organized by lobby Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) last week.
Some industry representatives worry that:
Details on next steps are scarce. "There is no information shared yet by the Commission with the providers on the details," tech policy expert Cornelia Kutterer said in a briefing after the CCIA roundtable, a week before it will happen. MLex reported that the first draft of the CoP is expected to come a week behind schedule, in the second week of November.
Furthermore, industry expressed concerns that:
With only 4% of plenary participants and only 5% of written input in the consultation stemming from GPAI providers, they will have too little say in the process.
The CoP will go too far, based on what was mentioned in the consultation form and first plenary, said CCIA Europe's Senior Policy Manager, Beniface de Champris. That refers to:
Civil society has its own concerns. Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists told Euractiv after the first plenary that:
GPAI providers will have too much influence through the provider workshops and given that the Commission highlighted their input in the first plenary.
The Commissions focus on competitiveness will water down obligations for model providers.
