Signal EU AI Act Article 50 Transparency Obligations Apply From August 2, 2026; High-Risk Obligations Deferred to December 2027

Summary

The transparency obligations in Article 50 of the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) have applied since August 2, 2026. AI chatbots must identify themselves to users, and AI-generated or manipulated content such as deepfakes must carry machine-readable marking. Generative AI systems already on the market have until December 2, 2026 to meet the machine-readable marking requirement. The EU also announced a new specialist enforcement team to combat deepfakes and AI-driven disinformation. The high-risk AI system obligations that were due on the same date (provider obligations under Articles 9-17, deployer obligations under Article 26, conformity assessment, CE marking and EU database registration) were deferred by the Digital Omnibus regulation ((EU) 2026/1744), in force since July 27, 2026. Stand-alone Annex III systems must comply from December 2, 2027, and Annex I systems embedded in regulated products from August 2, 2028.