EU Begins Enforcing AI Act as Transparency Rules Take Effect Saturday

From August 2, the EU's AI Office and national authorities begin enforcing the AI Act. Chatbots must disclose they are AI, deepfakes must be labelled, and AI-generated content must carry machine-readable marks — with more than 180 organisations already signed to the transparency code of practice.

Key Takeaways

From August 2, the EU's AI Office and national authorities begin enforcing the AI Act.
Chatbots must disclose they are AI, deepfakes must be labelled, and AI-generated content must carry machine-readable marks — with more than 180 organisations already signed to the transparency code of practice.

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The European Union will begin enforcing its landmark AI Act on 2 August, when the Commission's AI Office and national authorities formally take up implementation — and a new set of transparency obligations kicks in for AI systems across the bloc.

Under the new rules, chatbots and other interactive AI systems must tell users they are dealing with a machine rather than a human. Deepfakes — images, videos or audio edited or generated by AI — must be labelled, and AI-generated or altered content will have to carry machine-readable marks so it can be detected automatically. The Commission says the measures are designed to reduce deception and manipulation and to help people make informed choices, while giving businesses clearer obligations and a practical route to demonstrate compliance.

To support the rollout, Brussels on Friday published a first list of more than 180 organisations that have signed the Code of Practice on transparency of AI-generated content, which operationalises the labelling rules. The code was selected by the AI Office earlier this month as a voluntary tool guiding providers and deployers of generative AI systems.

The transparency provisions are part of a staggered implementation of the world's first comprehensive AI law. Prohibited AI practices have been banned since February 2025, obligations for general-purpose AI models have applied since August 2025, and rules for high-risk AI systems follow in December 2027 and August 2028 under the recently adopted 'AI Omnibus' simplification. From Saturday, the AI Office can request technical documentation, evaluate models, require corrective measures and impose fines for non-compliance.