On August 2, 2026, the transparency obligations of Article 50 of the European Union’s AI Act came into force. Any company whose system talks to people or generates images, audio, video, or text must disclose that it’s AI and label the generated content, whether or not it’s a “high-risk” system.
- Users must be clearly informed when they’re interacting with an AI and not a real person.
- Generated or manipulated content (including deepfakes) must be labeled in a machine-detectable format.
- Fines of up to 15 million euros or 3% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is greater.
- Generative systems already on the market have until December 2, 2026 to comply with the labeling.
Why it matters to you
If your business uses a customer-service chatbot or generates images and text with AI to sell, you’re now legally required to disclose it to your customers when you operate or sell into the EU. It’s not just compliance: transparency done right also builds trust.