The AI Office: What is it, and how does it work?  

Updated on 31 August 2026.

In this overview, we offer a summary of the key elements of the AI Office relevant for those interested in AI governance. We’ve highlighted the responsibilities of the AI Office, its role within the European Commission, its relationship with the AI Board, its national regulators, the scientific panel of independent experts, and its function as the EU voice in global AI cooperation. For further details, please see the latest AI Act legal text, in which the AI Office was created, and the Commission Decision formally establishing it as a legal entity.  

The European AI Office sit within the Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) in the European Commission.

The AI Office monitors, supervises, and enforces the AI Act requirements on general purpose AI (GPAI) models as well as AI systems developed by the same provider as that of the underlying GPAI models (with a few exceptions) and AI systems that constitute or that are integrated into a designated very large online platform or very large online search engine under the Digital Services Act across the 27 EU Member States. This includes analysing emerging unforeseen risks stemming from GPAI development and deployment, as well as developing tools, methodologies and benchmarks for capabilities evaluations, conducting model evaluations and investigating potential infringements of the AI Act’s provisions on GPAI models and systems. To facilitate the compliance of GPAI model providers and consider their perspectives, the AI Office has assisted in the drawing up of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice, adherence to which may demonstrate compliance of the provider with the AI Act.

The AI Office also leads the EU in international cooperation on AI and strengthens bonds between the European Commission and the scientific community, including the scientific panel of independent experts. The Office helps the 27 Member States cooperate on enforcement, including on joint investigations, and acts as the Secretariat of the AI Board, the intergovernmental forum for coordination between national regulators. It supports the creation of regulatory sandboxes where companies can test AI systems in a controlled environment. It also complements Member States’ efforts in providing information and resources to small and medium businesses (SMEs) to aid in their compliance with rules.

Central coordinating and monitoring mechanism

How does the AI Office coordinate and monitor the implementation of the EU AI Act?

• The AI Office monitors the implementation of rules by GPAI model providers, requiring them to take corrective measures when non-compliant.
• Where the same provider develops the GPAI model and the system integrating it (user-facing application), the AI Office also supervises the compliance of the AI system, unless an exception applies
• The AI Office also supervises the compliance of AI systems that constitute or that are integrated into a designated very large online platform or very large online search engine under the Digital Services Act.
• When a GPAI system is used directly by deployers in a high-risk context (Annex I or III), and is suspected of being non-compliant, market surveillance authorities cooperate with the AI Office to assess compliance and inform the AI Board and other market surveillance authorities.
• The AI Office facilitates uniform application of the AI Act across Member States.
• The Office supports coordinated enforcement of rules concerning banned and high-risk AI systems by streamlining communication between national authorities, and creating central databases, particularly when a GPAI model or system is integrated into a high-risk AI system.
• It coordinates the creation of a governance system, including preparing the establishment of advisory bodies at the EU level and monitoring the establishment of relevant national authorities.
• Finally, the Office acts as the Secretariat for the AI Board and its subgroups, providing administrative support to the advisory forum and scientific panel of independent experts, including organising meetings and preparing relevant documents.

AI Board

What is the AI Board, and what is its role in relation to the AI Office?

• Composed of one representative per Member State, with the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and AI Office participating in meetings as non-voting observers, the Board should ensure consistency and coordination of implementation between national competent authorities.
• The AI Office provides the Secretariat for the Board, convenes meetings upon request of the Chair, and prepares the agenda.
• The AI Board assists the AI Office in supporting national competent authorities in the establishment and development of regulatory sandboxes and facilitates cooperation and information sharing among regulatory sandboxes.

Joint investigations

What role does the AI Office play in ‘joint investigations’?

• The AI Office provides coordination support for joint investigations conducted by market surveillance authorities or market surveillance authorities jointly with the Commission to identify non-compliance, where high risk AI systems are found to present a serious risk across several Member States.

Enforcement

The AI Office supports the Commission’s role in enforcement by preparing:

• Decisions (legal acts that apply only to specific recipients, either generally or individually);
• Implementing acts to provide detailed rules for the application of the AI Act;
• Delegated acts to supplement or amend non-essential elements of the AI Act;
• Guidance and guidelines to support practical AI Act implementation, such as standardised protocols and best practices, in consultation with relevant Commission services, and EU institutions, bodies and agencies;
• Standardisation requests: the evaluation of existing standards and the preparation of common specifications to support AI Act implementation.

Codes of practice

How does the AI Office implement codes of practice for AI in the EU?

• The AI Office and AI Board have facilitated the development of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice and the Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-generated Content, published in July 2025 and June 2026, respectively.
• The General-Purpose AI Code of Practice was declared adequate by the Commission and the AI Board in August 2025 whereas the two bodies concluded the Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-generated Content was adequate in July 2026.
• The AI Office must monitor and evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the former, which involves reports from the GPAI model providers, while considering adaptations in light of emerging standards. This includes setting up forums for AI model and system providers to exchange best practices.
• All GPAI model providers may demonstrate compliance with their obligations if they voluntarily adhere to the Code of Practice until European harmonised standards are published, compliance with which will lead to a presumption of conformity.
• The AI Office shall create a forum for cooperation with the open-source community to identify and develop best practices for the safe development and use of open-source AI models and systems.

Model evaluations: Capabilities and risks

To assess the capabilities and risks of AI models, the AI Office:

• Develops tools, methodologies, and benchmarks for capabilities evaluations for GPAI models, particularly the highly capable ones with the greatest impact that present possible systemic risks.
• Monitors emerging unforeseen risks of GPAI models, including responding to the scientific panel of independent experts’ qualified alerts.Providers of GPAI models with systemic risk are also required to report serious incidents and corrective measures to the AI Office.
• Investigate possible infringements and systemic risks of upstream GPAI models and systems, including collecting complaints from downstream providers and deployers, as well as qualified alerts from the scientific panel of independent experts.
• Require GPAI model providers, where necessary, to provide technical documentation on training and testing processes and evaluation results, any other additional information needed to assess compliance or for the scientific panel of independent experts to carry out their work.
• Initiate structured dialogues with the GPAI model provider, where helpful, to gather more information on the model’s internal testing, safeguards for preventing systemic risks, and other procedures and measures the provider has taken to mitigate such risks.
• Conduct model evaluations, after consulting the AI Board, through APIs or other means, such as the source code, where documentation and information are insufficient to assess complianceWhere these model evaluations have identified a serious and substantiated concern of systemic risk, the Commission can require the provider to implement mitigation measures. If such mitigation measures are unable to address the risk, the Commission can restrict, recall, or withdraw the GPAI model from the market, in addition to imposing a fine.

Data governance

The AI Office has also developed a template for GPAI providers to use when publishing a sufficiently detailed summary about the content used for training the GPAI model to facilitate parties with legitimate interests in exercising their rights.

Scientific panel of independent experts

On 1 June 2026, the Commission announced the newly appointed scientific panel, composed of  experts that demonstrate expertise, independence from AI developers, and  the ability to execute their duties diligently, accurately, and objectively.

The Panel consists of up to 60 experts serving two-year renewable terms, selected with fair gender balance and geographical representation in mind. At least 80 percent of experts come from EU/EFTA/EEA member states and there is at least one and at most three experts per each EU Member State and EFTA/EEA country.

The panel advises and supports the AI Office on:

• Implementation and enforcement of the AI Act in respect of GPAI models and systems.
• Development of tools, methodologies, and benchmarks for evaluating the capabilities of GPAI models and systems.
• Classification of different GPAI models and systems, including GPAI models with systemic risk.
• Development of tools and templates.

The panel can issue a qualified alert to the AI Office where it suspects a GPAI model poses concrete identifiable risk at the EU level, or meets the threshold for classifying GPAI models as having a systemic risk. On that basis, the AI Office, having informed the AI Board, may designate a GPAI model as a model with systemic risk and therefore subject it to more obligations. Further information can be found in the post on the Scientific Panel.

Collaboration

With regards to collaboration, the AI Office shall also:

• Cooperate with relevant EU institutions, bodies and agencies, including the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU);
• Engage with Member State authorities on behalf of the Commission;
• Work with relevant DGs and Commission services, notably the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency for GPAI model and system evaluation, and raising awareness of emerging risks within the Commission;
• Evaluate and promote the convergence of best practices in public procurement procedures for AI systems;
• Contribute to international cooperation on AI governance, advocate for responsible AI, and promote the EU approach.

Sandboxes

The Office, together with the AI Board, contributes technical support, advice, and tools for the establishment and operation of AI regulatory sandboxes, coordinating with national authorities as needed to encourage cooperation among Member States.

By 2 August 2027, each Member State must establish at least one AI regulatory sandbox, either independently or by joining other Member States’ sandbox(es).

This should foster innovation, particularly for SMEs, by facilitating AI training, testing, and validation, before the system’s market placement or introduction into service under regulators’ supervision. Such supervision is intended to provide legal clarity, improve regulatory expertise and policy learning, and enable market access. The AI Office is notified by national authorities of any suspension in sandbox testing due to unmitigable risks. National authorities submit publicly available annual reports to the AI Office and AI Board detailing sandbox progress, incidents, and recommendations.

Supporting SMEs

How does the AI Office support SMEs in the EU?

• The AI Office has developed and maintains a service desk and a single information platform providing easy to use information on this Regulation for all EU operators.

Review

How will the AI Office’s roles and responsibilities be reviewed and updated?

• By 2 August 2028, the Commission will assess if the AI Office has been given sufficient powers and competences to fulfill its tasks, and whether those need to be upgraded with increased resources.