EU AI Act transparency requirements take effect

The EU’s AI Act reached an important deadline on August 2: businesses offering certain AI systems in Europe now face enforceable transparency duties. A chatbot must make clear that the user is dealing with a machine unless that is already obvious, while makers of systems that generate synthetic audio, images, video, or text must make their output detectable as AI-generated or altered. Those using AI to create or alter deepfakes generally must disclose that fact, although material under human review or editorial control can be exempt when someone is responsible for its publication. AI-generated or altered text published to inform the public on matters of public interest must be disclosed even when it has editorial oversight. The rules do not certify content as true, but give people an early signal of its origin—and turn disclosure from a product choice into a compliance obligation for global technology companies.