EU AI Act: labelling rules start, high-risk duties delayed

Article 50 transparency duties took effect on August 2, 2026: telling people when they interact with an AI system, labelling AI-generated audio, images, video and text, and disclosing deepfakes. Anthropic said new Claude models launched in the EU from that date carry machine-readable watermarks.

Under the Digital Omnibus deal reached on May 7, high-risk duties for stand-alone systems in areas like hiring, credit scoring, education and critical infrastructure move to December 2, 2027, and those for AI embedded in regulated products such as medical devices, machinery and toys to August 2, 2028.