Art. 50(1)Providers
Tell people they are talking to an AI
A system that talks directly with people (chatbot, voice assistant, support-queue agent) must make clear it is AI, unless that is obvious to a reasonably well-informed person.
The four duties
What does Article 50 require?
Two fall on the provider, two on the deployer. Most organisations owe one or two; one that builds and runs its own generative product can owe all four.
Art. 50(2)Providers
Mark AI-generated content
Generative systems mark synthetic audio, image, video and text machine-readably (watermarks, metadata, provenance signals) so it can be detected, as far as the state of the art allows.
Art. 50(3)Deployers
Disclose emotion recognition and biometric categorisation
Deployers inform the people exposed to the system and process their personal data under the GDPR. Article 5 bans several of these uses outright: check that first.
Art. 50(4)Deployers
Disclose deepfakes and AI-written public-interest text
Always disclose generated or manipulated media resembling real people, places or events. Disclose AI-written public-interest text too, unless a human reviewed it and someone holds editorial responsibility.
Scope
Who does Article 50 apply to?
Anyone providing or deploying AI in the EU that talks to people, generates content, reads emotions or produces deepfakes. Your role decides what you owe, whatever the tier.
| If you… | You are the… | You owe |
|---|---|---|
| build a chatbot or assistant, including on a licensed model, and offer it to people | Provider | Art. 50(1) disclosure by design |
| build or brand a system that generates image, audio, video or text | Provider | Art. 50(2) machine-readable marking |
| use a vendor's emotion-recognition or biometric-categorisation tool on staff or customers | Deployer | Art. 50(3) inform the people exposed, after an Art. 5 check |
| publish generated media of real people, places or events, or AI-written public-interest text | Deployer | Art. 50(4) visible disclosure |
| use a vendor's chatbot on your website under the vendor's name | Deployer | The provider designs the disclosure; you keep it switched on and visible |
Everything turns on whether you are the provider or the deployer. Provider or deployer walks it, and the EU AI Act guide covers the four roles.
Timeline
When did Article 50 apply?
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 02.08.2026 | Article 50 in force. The transparency duties took legal effect across every Member State. Not deferred by the Digital Omnibus. |
| 27.07.2026 | Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 in force. The Digital Omnibus moved the high-risk dates and added two Article 5 prohibitions; Article 50 was left where it was. |
| 02.12.2026 | Two new Article 5 prohibitions apply: AI nudification tools and AI-generated child sexual abuse material. Deepfake disclosure under Art. 50(4) does not make either of those lawful. |
Enforcement
What are the penalties for breaching Article 50?
Article 50 sits in the middle band of Art. 99: up to €15m or 3% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher. For SMEs and start-ups, the lower of the two (Art. 99(6)).
National market-surveillance authorities enforce it. The amount is a maximum, weighed against the nature of the breach and what you did about it.
The work
How to meet the Article 50 transparency obligations
Five steps, none of them large. The notice is quick to write. The real work is finding every place where AI meets a person.
- 01Inventory every AI touchpointList what talks to people, generates content, reads emotions or produces media, including features in tools you licence. Most organisations find the first in the marketing stack.
- 02Sort each one by paragraph50(1) and 50(2) fall on the provider; 50(3) and 50(4) on the deployer. Build a chatbot on a licensed model and you provide the chatbot.
- 03Write the disclosuresA short, plain notice where the interaction starts; a label on deepfakes; a note on AI-written public-interest text. The generator below drafts the first.
- 04Confirm the marking with your vendorFor 50(2), ask the model or platform provider how output is marked, and keep the answer. The duty is theirs; you will be asked what you rely on.
- 05Record itKeep the notice text, where it appears and when it went live. Article 50 has no registration step, so the record is your proof.
Free tool
Generate your Article 50 disclosure notice
Fill in a few details and get a paste-ready AI-interaction disclosure plus the machine-readable content-marking snippet. Free, no sign-up.
Straight answers
Article 50: frequently asked questions
What does Article 50 of the EU AI Act require?
Four transparency duties. Providers must design AI that interacts with people to make that clear (Art. 50(1)) and must mark generated content in a machine-readable way (Art. 50(2)). Deployers must tell people when an emotion-recognition or biometric-categorisation system is used on them (Art. 50(3)) and must disclose deepfakes and AI-generated text published on matters of public interest (Art. 50(4)).
Who does Article 50 apply to?
Anyone providing or deploying AI in the EU that interacts with people, generates content, recognises emotions or produces deepfakes, whatever the risk tier. Paragraphs (1) and (2) fall on providers; (3) and (4) on deployers. A business that builds a chatbot on a licensed model is the provider of that chatbot.
When did Article 50 start to apply?
Article 50 has applied since 02.08.2026. The Digital Omnibus (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, in force since 27.07.2026) deferred the high-risk obligations but did not move Article 50.
Does Article 50 apply to a customer-service chatbot?
Yes, under Art. 50(1). The person must be able to tell they are dealing with an AI system unless it is obvious from the circumstances. The usual way to meet it is a one-line notice at the start of the conversation, repeated when a human takes over.
Do I have to label AI-generated images and text?
Two different duties. The provider of the generative system marks its output machine-readably (Art. 50(2)). The deployer always visibly discloses a deepfake (content resembling real people, places or events), and discloses AI-generated public-interest text unless a human reviewed it and takes editorial responsibility (Art. 50(4)). Ordinary marketing copy drafted with AI and reviewed by a person is not caught by 50(4).
Is Article 50 only for high-risk AI systems?
No. Article 50 applies on top of the risk tier, based on how the AI touches people. A minimal-risk chatbot owes Art. 50(1); a high-risk system that also generates content owes Article 50 as well as the high-risk chapter.
What are the penalties for breaching Article 50?
Up to €15m or 3% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher. That is the middle band in Article 99. For SMEs and start-ups the lower of the two figures applies (Art. 99(6)).
Where to next
- Art. 50 notice generatorThe same tool on its own page, beside the worker-notification and vendor-questionnaire generators.
- EU AI Act guideRoles, risk tiers, the dates, penalties and the six-phase path.
- Transparency obligations guideThe long-form playbook for Article 50, paragraph by paragraph.
- Free obligation checkEverything else the Act asks of this system, beyond transparency.
- AcademyArticle 4 AI-literacy training for the people who run the chatbot.
- Frameworks explainedWhere Article 50 meets GDPR transparency (Art. 13 and 14) in one register.