EU AI Act transparency rules take effect in August 2026

EU AI Act transparency obligations under Article 50 come into force on August 2, 2026, applying to businesses that use chatbots, AI-generated content, deepfakes or AI-generated text on matters of public interest. Chatbots and virtual assistants must tell users they are interacting with AI at the start, synthetic content must be marked in a machine-readable format, deepfakes must be clearly labeled, and public-interest AI text must be disclosed unless it has genuine human review with editorial responsibility.

Non-compliance can result in fines of up to €15 million or 3% of global annual turnover. Systems already on the market before August 2 have until December 2, 2026 to comply with the machine-readable marking requirement, but other Article 50 duties apply immediately.

High-risk AI obligations have been delayed under the Digital Omnibus agreement. Annex III systems, including recruitment tools, credit scoring, law enforcement, education and border control, now move to December 2, 2027, while Annex I systems embedded in regulated products such as medical devices, machinery and vehicles move to August 2, 2028.

Businesses should distinguish between providers that build or place AI systems on the market and deployers that use third-party tools in operations. Practical steps include mapping AI systems, reviewing user interfaces for clear disclosure, and running a compliance check with legal or operational teams.