[HOLD viral] AI Act Article 50 is live: transparency duties from 2 Aug 2026

<p><strong>DRAFT — A1</strong>. For product and CMS <em>deployers</em> (and providers who ship interactive / generative features): Article <strong>50</strong> of Regulation (EU) <strong>2024/1689</strong> (AI Act) transparency duties apply from <strong>2 August 2026</strong>. This is not a high-risk Annex III conformity assessment guide.</p>

<h2>What went live (transparency), what did not (high-risk deferrals)</h2>

<p>Article 50 transparency obligations apply from <strong>2 August 2026</strong>. Separately, some <strong>high-risk / Annex III</strong> timelines have been discussed under later adjustments — treat those dates as <strong>Medium confidence</strong> until you cite the Official Journal act in the published body. Do <em>not</em> collapse “Art.50 is live” into “entire AI Act high-risk chapter is done.”</p>

<h2>Deployer / provider duties in plain language</h2>

<ul> <li><strong>Art. 50(1)</strong> — providers of systems that <em>interact directly</em> with natural persons: design so people know they are interacting with AI (unless obvious).</li> <li><strong>Art. 50(2)</strong> — synthetic audio/image/video/text: machine-readable marking / detectability of AI-generated or manipulated output. Limited transition often cited to <strong>2 December 2026</strong> for systems already on the market before 2 Aug 2026 — verify against the Commission FAQ before engineering freeze.</li> <li><strong>Art. 50(4)</strong> — deployers: disclose deepfakes; disclose certain AI-generated/manipulated text informing the public on matters of public interest (with statutory exceptions).</li> <li><strong>Art. 50(5)</strong> — information clear, distinguishable, timely (by first interaction/exposure), and accessibility-conformant.</li> </ul>

<h2>Commission guidance (use it; don’t overquote)</h2>

<p>Commission <em>Guidelines on transparency obligations for providers and deployers of AI systems</em> (published <strong>20 July 2026</strong>, C(2026) 5054) plus the Art.50 FAQ on digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu. Practical for CMS/chatbot/marketing-site teams: interaction notices, synthetic marking, deployer disclosures.</p>

<h2>AEGIS gate</h2>

<p>Before any <strong>sovereign-cloud legal absolute</strong> (“immune”, “guaranteed lawful”, “automatically compliant”), route through <strong>AEGIS</strong>. This draft stays operational transparency, not legal advice.</p>

<h2>Sources (RADAR pack item 3)</h2>

<ul> <li>Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 Art. 50 — transparency obligations.</li> <li>EC guidelines 20 Jul 2026 — digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu library page on Art.50 transparency guidelines.</li> <li>EC FAQ — Transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act.</li> </ul>

<p>Status: <strong>draft only</strong>. Human publishes. No fake certifications.</p>