The Commission publishes guidelines on transparency obligations for providers and operators of certain AI systems

On 20 July, the European Commission published guidelines to help providers and those implementing artificial intelligence (AI) systems to comply with the transparency obligations under the AI Act, which will come into force on 2 August 2026.

The transparency obligations will help people recognise when they are interacting with AI or when content has been generated or modified by it, thereby reducing the risk of deception and manipulation. The published guidelines clarify which providers and operators must comply with the transparency obligations for interactive AI systems and the labelling and tagging of AI-generated content.

Transparency obligations under the AI Act

Under the AI Act, artificial intelligence providers must design AI systems that inform users when they are interacting directly with an AI, and must add machine-readable markers to enable the detection of content generated or manipulated by AI.

Those responsible for implementation must also inform users when they are exposed to deepfakes, to AI-generated content on matters of public interest without human review or editorial control, and to emotion recognition or biometric categorisation systems.

The guidelines explain certain concepts, set out exceptions and provide examples. These include directly interactive AI systems, such as chatbots; synthetic content (including text generated partly or entirely by AI); deepfakes and AI-generated text on topics of public interest, as well as examples of relevant exceptions, such as standard editing (e.g. spelling and grammar correction).

Finally, the guidelines explain how compliance with the transparency obligations under the AI Act can be demonstrated, including through adherence to a code of good practice, which provides legal certainty and a simple, practical way of demonstrating compliance with the AI Act.

Background

The Commission’s Guidelines on the transparency requirements of the AI Act complement the Code of Good Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content. The Code of Good Practice was drawn up by independent experts with the involvement of hundreds of stakeholders. The Commission and the AI Council confirmed that the Code constitutes an appropriate and voluntary means on which AI providers and users can rely to demonstrate compliance with the AI Act.

To help organisations better understand their obligations under the AI Act, the Commission is rolling out a series of tools, including guidelines, the Code of Good Practice and the AI Act Helpdesk – an accessible and up-to-date information hub offering clear guidance on the AI Act.

Next steps

On 2 August 2026, most of the rules set out in the AI Act will come into force, including the enforcement powers of the Commission and the national market surveillance authorities.

AI systems placed on the market before August must comply with the labelling and detection requirements from 2 December 2026.

 

More information: European Commission