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EU AI Act Transparency Rules: What Organisations Must Do Before 2 August 2026
The European Commission has published its final guidance on the transparency obligations under Article 50 of the EU AI Act. With the requirements applying from 2 August 2026, providers and deployers must now translate the rules into operational controls.
The EU AI Act transparency deadline is approaching.
On 20 July 2026, the European Commission published its final guidelines on the transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act. These requirements will apply from 2 August 2026.
The guidelines clarify which organisations are affected and how providers and deployers should inform people about AI interactions and AI-generated or manipulated content.
What AI providers must do
Providers must design relevant AI systems so that individuals are clearly informed when they are directly interacting with an AI system.
Providers of systems generating or manipulating text, audio, images or video must also ensure that outputs are marked in a machine-readable format and can be detected as artificially generated or manipulated.
What AI deployers must do
Deployers must inform individuals when they are exposed to:
• emotion recognition systems;
• biometric categorisation systems;
• deepfake content;
• certain AI-generated or manipulated publications concerning matters of public interest.
The precise obligation depends on the organisation’s role, the type of AI system, the content involved and whether meaningful human review or editorial control is present.
The Code of Practice
The European Commission and the AI Board have recognised the voluntary Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content as an adequate framework for demonstrating compliance with the relevant Article 50 obligations.
Organisations that follow the Code can rely on a recognised EU-wide compliance framework. Providers and deployers choosing alternative measures will need to demonstrate that their approach is equivalently adequate.
What organisations should do now
Before deploying an AI system or publishing AI-generated content, organisations should:
• determine whether they act as a provider or deployer;
• identify affected AI systems and content;
• map the applicable transparency obligations;
• implement user notices, labels and machine-readable marking;
• establish internal review and approval procedures;
• retain documented evidence of compliance.
How CORVUS AI supports organisations
CORVUS AI provides legal intelligence, regulatory analysis and implementation support for organisations developing or deploying AI, autonomous systems and dual-use technologies.
Our Transparency Readiness approach helps organisations identify applicable obligations, assess compliance gaps and translate legal requirements into practical controls across the EU and Ukraine.
Official sources
European Commission — Guidelines on transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act
European Commission — Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content
