On 2 August 2026, transparency obligations under Article 50 of the Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AI Act) came into effect in the European Union. This was announced by the European Commission.
The new requirements are designed to make it easier for people to recognise when they are interacting with AI or encountering content that has been created or modified by artificial intelligence. This will enable them to make more informed decisions and better protect themselves against disinformation, deception and manipulation.
Systems that interact directly with people (chatbots, virtual assistants, avatars and the like) must clearly inform the user that they are communicating with an AI system rather than a human (unless this is already obvious from the context).
Systems that generate or substantially alter text, images, audio or video must equip such content with machine-readable markings that allow its artificial origin to be reliably identified.
People must be informed when they are exposed to emotion recognition or biometric categorisation systems.
Clear and visible labelling is mandatory for deepfakes (images, audio or video that resemble real people, objects, places or events and could be perceived as authentic).
Similar labelling is required for texts published for the purpose of informing the public on matters of public interest, if they have not undergone human review or editorial control.
The European Commission previously published guidelines on the application of these obligations and a Code of Practice on the transparency of AI-generated content. These help companies understand the scope of the requirements and demonstrate compliance. For systems already on the market before 2 August 2026, a transitional period until 2 December 2026 applies only to the machine-readable marking obligation.
Violations of the transparency rules can result in fines of up to €15 million or 3% of a company’s global annual turnover (whichever is higher). Proportional measures are provided for small and medium-sized enterprises. The AI Regulation entered into force on 1 August 2024. Its provisions are being applied in stages. The transparency obligations represent one of the key stages that are now fully in force across the entire territory of the EU.