Frontier model

In short

A frontier model is one of the most capable general-purpose AI models available at a given time, matching or beating today's most advanced systems. The label is mostly used by governments and AI labs when talking about safety rules.

Also called: Frontier AI, Frontier AI model, Frontier models
Topic: The basics
Level: Some background helps
First described: The term spread in 2023. Anderljung and colleagues set out a definition of "frontier AI" models in July 2023¹, and the UK government adopted the term for the November 2023 AI Safety Summit².

"Frontier" is a moving line, not a fixed technology. Whatever counts as frontier today will not count in a few years, because newer models will pass it.

For the 2023 AI Safety Summit, the UK government defined frontier AI as "highly capable general-purpose AI models that can perform a wide variety of tasks and match or exceed the capabilities present in today's most advanced models". At the time, it said, this mainly meant the large language models behind ChatGPT, Claude and Bard².

A July 2023 policy paper by Anderljung and colleagues added a risk angle. It described frontier AI models as "highly capable foundation models that could possess dangerous capabilities sufficient to pose severe risks to public safety"¹.

Industry has its own version. The Frontier Model Forum, an industry-funded non-profit set up in 2023, counts a model as frontier if it beats every model that has been widely deployed for at least 12 months on a range of benchmarks or high-risk capability tests³.

Laws tend to draw the line using training compute instead. The EU AI Act presumes a general-purpose model has "high impact capabilities" when its training used more than 10^25 floating point operations⁴. California's SB 53, signed in September 2025 and in force since 1 January 2026, defines a frontier model as one trained using more than 10^26 operations, Orrick reports⁵.

A frontier model is not the same as artificial general intelligence. It is simply the best of what exists now.

Example

When a lab such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google releases a new flagship model that tops the main benchmarks, that model is a frontier model. Its smaller, cheaper sibling usually is not.

Why it matters

Most new AI safety rules, including the EU's and California's, apply only to frontier models. Whether a model counts decides which tests its maker must run and what it must publish.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between a frontier model and a foundation model?

A foundation model is any large model trained on broad data and adapted to many tasks. A frontier model is a foundation model at the top of the capability range. Anderljung and colleagues define frontier models as highly capable foundation models that could have dangerous capabilities¹.

Which AI models are frontier models?

There is no official list, and the answer changes as new models arrive. In October 2023 the UK government said frontier AI mainly meant the large language models behind ChatGPT, Claude and Bard².

Is there a legal definition of a frontier model?

In some places. California's SB 53 defines one by training compute, above 10^26 operations⁵. The EU AI Act does not use the word, but places extra duties on general-purpose models trained with more than 10^25 floating point operations⁴.

Related terms

Tools that use it

Sources

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