AI Governance Engineer
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Frontier model

By Updated

A general-purpose model at or near the capability frontier. Laws draw the line by training compute: California's SB 53, for example, covers models trained with more than 10^26 operations 1. Frontier-developer laws ask for a published safety framework and incident reporting 2.

Developed in
ch. 21, Provenance, training data and frontier developers
ch. 08, Frontier-developer laws
Chapters
ch. 08, Regulatory Map · ch. 21, AI Laws Worldwide
Contrast with
Foundation model
Source
2 numbered references, listed below

Where it is used

2 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Frontier model: mentions per chapter3 mentions of the term across 2 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapterCross-referenced, not named02 Why Now: 1 mention02 Why Now108 Regulatory Map021 AI Laws Worldwide: 2 mentions21 AI Laws Worldwide2No mentions in the other 20 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Frontier model: mentions per chapter3 mentions of the term across 2 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapterCross-referenced, not named000102 Why Now: 1 mention102030405060708101112131415161718192021 AI Laws Worldwide: 2 mentions2212223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Frontier model per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now1No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map0Yes
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide2Yes
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No
Frontier model: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastFrontier modelRelated terms (3)Latent disclosure · RelatedLatent disclosureRAISE Act · RelatedRAISE ActSB 53 · RelatedSB 53Contrast with (1)Foundation model · ContrastFoundation model
Frontier model: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastRelated terms (3)Latent disclosure · RelatedLatent disclosureRAISE Act · RelatedRAISE ActSB 53 · RelatedSB 53Contrast with (1)Foundation model · ContrastFoundation modelFrontier model
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Frontier model
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsLatent disclosureRelated
Related termsRAISE ActRelated
Related termsSB 53Related
Contrast withFoundation modelContrast
  • Latent disclosure

    Under California's AI Transparency Act, provenance information embedded in AI-generated image, video or audio so that it persists and can be read by a…

  • RAISE Act

    New York's Responsible AI Safety and Education Act, a frontier-AI safety law binding large frontier developers to publish a safety framework and every…

  • SB 53

    California's frontier-AI transparency law (TFAIA), in force 1 Jan 2026, covering frontier developers training models above 10^26 FLOP: all of them publish…

Sources

  1. [1] California SB 53 / TFAIA (models above 10^26 FLOP; transparency reports and incident reports by all frontier developers; frameworks by large frontier developers). Future of Privacy Forum. 2025-10-03. https://fpf.org/blog/californias-sb-53-the-first-frontier-ai-law-explained/ (verified: secondary)
  2. [2] "Governor Hochul Signs Nation-Leading Legislation to Require AI Frameworks for AI Frontier Models" (RAISE Act, S6953B/A6453B, signed 19 Dec 2025; oversight office within the Department of Financial Services). Governor Kathy Hochul (New York State). 2025-12-19. https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-nation-leading-legislation-require-ai-frameworks-ai-frontier-models (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Frontier model. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/frontier-model. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026frontiermodel,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Frontier model}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/frontier-model}
}