EuroCommerce seeks exemption for AI-generated ads under EU rules

EuroCommerce, which represents Europe’s retail and wholesale sectors, has asked EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen to exempt AI-generated advertisements from new transparency requirements under the European Union AI Act. The rules, which enter into force on August 2, require companies to clearly label AI-generated or AI-modified images, video or audio that constitute a deepfake.

In a letter sent to Virkkunen on Thursday and seen by Reuters on Friday, EuroCommerce director general Christel Delberghe said ads that are not intended to mislead consumers should fall outside the definition of deepfake. The group cited examples such as generating an image of a living room to display a sofa or enhancing product visuals for presentation.

Retailers are already using AI in marketing, including Zalando, which says the technology has helped cut content production costs by 90%. H&M and Zara are also using AI-generated clones of models. EuroCommerce warned that applying disclosure rules too broadly could force retailers to label “a very large share of AI-assisted content,” weakening the value of disclosures and creating disproportionate compliance burdens. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.