PRESS RELEASE: 2 August 2026 as a key date for the transparency rules under the AI Act. What does this mean in practice?
Prague, 31 July 2026 – The Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) draws attention to the entry into force of the transparency rules under Article 50 of the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). CTU recommends all entities developing or using AI systems to familiarise themselves with the new obligations and assess whether the individual requirements apply to them.
The CTU recommends proceeding in three basic steps. The first step is to correctly determine everyone's role. Furthermore, identify the specific obligations that apply to the entity. The third step is the subsequent setting of processes and measures ensuring compliance with the requirements of the AI Act.
Article 50 of the AI Act sets out the obligations of the provider of the AI system, i.e. the entity that places it on the market or puts it into service, and of the deployers, i.e. the entities that use the AI system in a non-personal non-professional activity. The correct identification of the role is essential, as some obligations fall only on providers of AI systems, others only on deployers. However, if an entity uses their own AI system, they will be required to fulfill both the obligations of the provider and the deployer.
The AI Act regulates several different situations for which it sets out specific transparency requirements.
Obligation to inform about communication with the AI system
Article 50(1) AI Act obliges providers of AI systems to ensure that natural persons are adequately informed that they are interacting with a chatbot, voicebot or other system designed to interact directly with natural persons in an appropriate manner.
Labelling AI-generated content
The CTU recalls that, according to Article 50(2), the obligation of providers of AI systems to ensure that the outputs of these systems are properly labelled in a machine-readable format and are thus detectable applies to all audio, image, video or text content, subject to specified exceptions.
By contrast, the deployer’s obligation under Article 50(4) only applies to deep fakes and texts published for the purpose of informing the public on matters of public interest. Thus, where image, audio or video content is created or significantly modified by the deployer using AI in a way that may give the impression of authenticity, there is an obligation to inform the public that such content has been created or modified using AI. The same applies to text that is published for the purpose of informing the public on matters of public interest, generated or manipulated by an AI system.
In that regard, the CTU points out that, under Article 50(5) of the AI Act, clear and distinguishable means of labelling must be used. In practice, for example, labels or icons of the type ‘AI generated’ for fully generated content or ‘AI modified’ for AI-modified content can be used. Examples of good labelling practices can be found in the Code of Practice on the transparency of AI generated content.
Emotion recognition and biometric categorisation
The CTU further notes that, pursuant to Article 50(3), deployers using AI systems for emotion recognition or biometric categorisation of natural persons are required to duly inform each natural person concerned of their use.
The CTU also recalls that the AI Act provides for a number of exceptions to the above-mentioned rules, such as for purposes related to the detection of crime, etc., and recommends the entities concerned to evaluate whether the activity in question falls under any of these exceptions.
Recommendations of the CTU
For a proper understanding of the various obligations, the CTU recommends that Article 50 of the AI Act be read together with the relevant European Commission guidelines and, where appropriate, the Code of Practice on the Transparency of AI Generated Content.
At the same time, the CTU points out that compliance with these obligations will be supervised by the market surveillance authorities of the relevant Member State of the European Union, including the Czech Telecommunication Office in the Czech Republic. In some cases, instead of these authorities, the European Artificial Intelligence Office (AI Office) will enforce the Article 50 of the AI act. The competence of a specific authority within the Czech Republic will always depend on the entity of the provider or deployer and, in case of competence of the AI Office, also on the provider of the general-purpose AI model on which the system is based.
The Czech Telecommunication Office recommends all entities concerned to carry out a timely assessment of their obligations and take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the transparency rules under the AI Act.
Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-generated Content | Shaping Europe’s digital future