EU AI Act Article 50 Explained: AI Content Disclosure Rules
Updated 21 May 2026
Article 50 of the EU AI Act sets out transparency obligations for artificial intelligence. It is the part of the law most relevant to everyday creators, marketers and publishers, because it governs when AI-generated content must be disclosed.
What Article 50 requires
In short, providers of generative AI systems must design their tools so that synthetic output can be detected as artificially generated. Separately, anyone deploying such content publicly must make sure that AI-generated image, audio, video and certain text content is clearly marked. The marking should be both noticeable to people and detectable by machines.
What counts as AI-generated content
The obligation targets content that is artificially generated or manipulated. Substantial generation clearly qualifies. Minor, routine edits such as cropping or colour correction generally do not. The closer the content comes to appearing authentic when it is not, the stronger the expectation of a clear label.
Deepfakes get stricter treatment
Where content is a deepfake — an AI-generated or manipulated likeness of a real, identifiable person, place or event — the disclosure expectation is higher. The label should make clear the material is synthetic.
The deadline
The Article 50 transparency obligations become applicable on 2 August 2026. The European Commission has been preparing implementing guidance and a voluntary code of practice to explain how to comply in practice.
How to comply in practice
A practical approach combines a visible disclosure label with embedded, machine-readable metadata in the file itself. Our free disclosure generator produces both in a few clicks.
This guide is general information, not legal advice.