---
title: "Frontier model"
description: "A general-purpose model at or near the capability frontier."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/frontier-model
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# Frontier model

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](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/ai-laws-worldwide#provenance-training-data-and-frontier-developers); [ch. 08, Frontier-developer laws](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/regulatory-map#frontier-developer-laws)
- Chapters: [ch. 08, Regulatory Map](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/regulatory-map) · [ch. 21, AI Laws Worldwide](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/ai-laws-worldwide)
- Contrast with: [Foundation model](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/foundation-model)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-frontier-model

## Sources

[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] "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)