# Transparency, not licensing

> What legal duties do frontier AI developers actually face in 2026, and where?

Instead of licensing, the EU, California and New York converged on published safety frameworks, incident reporting and regulator access to models. Federal US policy pushes back on state laws while relying on voluntary testing.

## Stops
1. **13 Jun 2024: EU AI Act** (Rule) The first binding law with specific duties for general-purpose and systemic-risk models. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/eu-ai-act-2024-1689/) · [source](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj)
2. **10 Jul 2025: EU publishes General-Purpose AI Code of Practice ahead of AI Act model duties** (Development) The code most major labs signed to show compliance; xAI only partly. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/eu-gpai-code-of-practice-published-2025-07/) · [source](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/contents-code-gpai)
3. **29 Sep 2025: California enacts SB 53, first US state law on frontier AI transparency** (Development) California sets the US template: frameworks, incident reports, whistleblowers. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-ca-sb53-frontier-ai-law-signed-2025-09/) · [source](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/09/29/governor-newsom-signs-sb-53-advancing-californias-world-leading-artificial-intelligence-industry/)
4. **11 Dec 2025: State AI law preemption EO** (Rule) Federal order targeting state AI laws raises pre-emption risk for SB 53-style rules. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/us-eo-14365-national-ai-policy-framework-2025/) · [source](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/16/2025-23092/ensuring-a-national-policy-framework-for-artificial-intelligence)
5. **27 Mar 2026: New York finalises RAISE Act, aligning frontier AI law closely with California** (Development) New York converges on California's model but with 72-hour reporting and a DFS regulator. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-ny-raise-act-chapter-amendment-2026-03/) · [source](https://www.wiley.law/alert-New-York-Finalizes-RAISE-Act-for-Frontier-AI-Models-Law-Takes-Effect-January-1-2027)
6. **3 Feb 2026: International AI Safety Report** (Rule) The shared scientific baseline governments cite for these rules. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/intl-international-ai-safety-report-2026/) · [source](https://internationalaisafetyreport.org/publication/international-ai-safety-report-2026)
7. **2 Aug 2026: EU AI Office gains powers to enforce AI Act rules on general-purpose models** (Development) EU gains fining and model-access powers over frontier providers. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/eu-ai-office-gpai-enforcement-begins-2026-08/) · [source](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1714)
8. **2 Jun 2026: EO 14409 (covered frontier models)** (Rule) US prefers voluntary pre-release testing and explicitly rules out licensing. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/us-eo-14409-advanced-ai-innovation-security-2026/) · [source](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/05/2026-11415/promoting-advanced-artificial-intelligence-innovation-and-security)

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Canonical page: https://wheresthe.ai/line/frontier-ai-transparency-rules/ · A Line of Thought from wheresthe.ai