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Guidelines on the transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act

European Commission

last revised 2026-07-20last verified 2026-09-032 versionscountry page →

GuidanceIn forceDisclosure

map categories:Horizontal AI statuteClient consent and transparencyAI-generated evidence

European Commission guidelines, approved 20 July 2026 as C(2026) 5054 final, on the EU AI Act Article 50 transparency duties that applied from 2 August 2026. Providers mark synthetic output in a machine-readable, detectable way; deployers disclose deepfakes and AI-generated text on matters of public interest, unless the text has had substantive human review.

Applies to
providers, all
Effective
20 Jul 2026
Current version
Final, C(2026) 5054 final · 20 Jul 2026
Last verified
03 Sept 2026
Official text
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/guidelines-transparency-oblig…

What the document requires

  • Providers must mark AI-generated output so it is machine-readable and detectable.
  • Deployers must disclose deepfakes and AI-generated text published on matters of public interest.
  • Obligations apply from 2 August 2026; under new Article 111(4) of the AI Act, generative systems placed on the market before that date must meet Article 50(2) marking by 2 December 2026.
  • Paragraphs 134 to 136 define the human-review exception for public-interest text: substantive examination by a person with relevant knowledge, fact-checking as a minimum, and no AI edits after sign-off.
  • Guidelines are interpretive and accompany the Code of Practice on AI-generated content.

Version history

VersionDateWhat changedSource
Final, C(2026) 5054 finalcurrent2026-07-20Final version, approved by the Commission on 20 July 2026 (C(2026) 5054 final), replaces the 8 May 2026 draft.official
Draft for consultation2026-05-08First version recorded.official

Read our analysis: The EU AI Act so far: every milestone from adoption to mid-2026 →

Sources

Cite this record

SafeLegalAI Legal AI Regulation Tracker, "Guidelines on the transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act" (European Commission, Final, C(2026) 5054 final, 2026-07-20), safelegalai.com/regulation/eu/eu-commission-article-50-transparency-guidelines (accessed 2026-09-04). Data: CC BY 4.0.

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