Guide · Updated 2026-08-25
Article 50 of the EU AI Act: transparency requirements in force since 2 August 2026
Since 2 August 2026, Article 50 of the EU AI Act is enforceable law. It is the part of the regulation most companies touch first — and the part most compliance checklists written before the Digital Omnibus get wrong. Four duties matter:
1. Chatbot disclosure — Art. 50(1)
Anyone providing an AI system that interacts directly with people must inform them that they are interacting with AI, at first interaction, unless it is obvious from context. A clear line in the interface ("You're chatting with an AI assistant") satisfies the duty; burying it in terms of service does not.
2. Machine-readable marking of AI content — Art. 50(2)
Providers of systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video or text must mark outputs in a machine-readable format as artificially generated. The Commission's Code of Practice on marking, declared adequate in July 2026, defines the accepted techniques (metadata standards such as C2PA, watermarking). Systems already on the market before August 2026 have a grace period until 2 December 2026.
3. Deepfakes and public-interest text — Art. 50(4)
Deployers must visibly disclose when content depicting real people, places or events is AI-generated or manipulated. AI-generated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest must be disclosed as such — unless it underwent human editorial review with someone taking responsibility.
4. Emotion recognition and biometric categorisation — Art. 50(3)
Where these systems are permitted at all (workplace and education uses are banned under Article 5), affected persons must be informed about their operation. GDPR duties apply in parallel.
Who enforces it, and what it costs
National market-surveillance authorities enforce Article 50; non-compliance carries fines up to €15 million or 3% of global annual turnover. The practical compliance work — disclosure copy, a marking SOP mapped to the Code of Practice, labelling templates and notices — is documented work, not engineering: most SMEs close the gap in one to two weeks.