Since 2 August 2026, the transparency obligations in Article 50 of the AI Act have applied. For company websites this mainly means: if you use an AI chatbot, visitors must be able to tell they are writing with an AI. Realistic AI images or videos that pass off real people, places or events as genuine must be labelled. In 2026 the so-called Digital Omnibus mainly postponed the deadlines for high-risk AI; the Article 50 obligations still apply. Breaches can lead to fines of up to 15 million euros or 3 percent of worldwide annual turnover.
What applies to a chatbot on your website?
People must be told that they are interacting with an AI system, unless that is obvious from the circumstances. In practice, a clear notice directly in the chat window is enough, for example: "You are chatting with an AI assistant. A person can take over on request." Do not hide the notice in the privacy policy; it belongs where the conversation takes place.
Do AI images have to be labelled?
That depends on the image:
- Deepfakes: images, videos or audio that resemble real people, places or events and would falsely appear genuine must be disclosed as AI-generated.
- Recognisable illustrations: an obviously artistic or symbolic AI image, such as a cover image for a blog post, generally does not fall under the deepfake rule. A short notice still does no harm and builds trust.
- Providers of AI tools must also make sure that generated content is marked in a machine-readable way. For systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026, a transition period applies until 2 December 2026. This concerns the tool makers, not you as a user.
And what about AI texts?
Texts created with AI that are meant to inform the public on matters of public interest must be disclosed. This does not apply if a person has reviewed the text and holds editorial responsibility for it. For most company texts, such as service descriptions, blog posts or product copy that someone reads and approves, this creates no labelling obligation.
Checklist for your website
- Does your website have a chatbot? Then add a clearly visible AI notice in the chat window.
- Do you show realistic AI images or videos of people, places or events? Then label them right next to the image.
- Are texts created with AI? Then make sure a person reviews and approves them.
- Describe the use of AI in your privacy policy if personal data is processed in the process.
- Record who in the team is responsible for these notices.
Does your team also use AI internally? Then the AI literacy obligation applies too, more in AI literacy obligation under Art. 4 AI Act.
This article is not legal advice. For your specific case, contact your legal advisor.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), Article 50
- IHK Nürnberg: Transparency and labelling obligations from 2 August (German)
- MB Kanzlei: Article 50 AI Regulation: transparency obligations (German)
- Plotdesk: EU AI Act Article 50 from 2 August 2026 (German)
