Transformation
What the AI Act requires of marketing and sales today, and what it does not
The AI Business Center Foundation (AIBC) is a think tank and advisory partner that helps the boards of construction, industrial and technical-services companies adopt artificial intelligence so that it delivers measurable results and builds competitive advantage. Below we explain which provisions of the AI Act concern communication and sales departments, and which have been postponed.
Rules that already apply, and those reported as coming into force later
In July 2026 the media carried reports that the Union was postponing its rules on artificial intelligence. That is true, but it concerns a different part of the regulation from the one that reaches the marketing department.
The AI Act — Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — was amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, known as the AI Omnibus, which entered into force on 27 July 2026. The Omnibus postponed the obligations for high-risk systems: for stand-alone systems under Annex III to 2 December 2027, and for systems embedded in regulated products under Annex I to 2 August 2028. These are the postponements that were reported — and this is the reason why many companies wrongly concluded that the subject does not concern them.
The transparency obligations of Article 50 have not been postponed. They have applied since 2 August 2026 — that is, already.
High-risk systems are, for example, AI used in recruitment, creditworthiness, critical infrastructure, biometrics. Marketing and brand communication, meanwhile, usually do not fall into this category. Transparency is a separate layer, which concerns entirely different activities of the company.
What obligations does Article 50 impose on a company that uses AI in communication?
Three things, in simplified form and without resolving borderline cases.
First, a person is to know that they are talking to a machine. If an AI assistant or an AI chatbot operates on a website / within a mobile app / on a phone call, the user must be informed of this at first contact — unless it is obvious from the circumstances.
Second, content generated or modified by AI, if it meets the criteria of a so-called deepfake, is to be recognisable as such. This is precisely the transparency obligation that every marketing department should be paying attention to from 2 August 2026. The transparency obligation does not apply to every published text, nor to every graphic or piece of video content. As regards text, the labelling obligation applies to material that informs the public on matters of public interest — so in most cases marketing copy does not need to be labelled. Visual, audio and audiovisual content, on the other hand, if it was created using AI and has the potential to mislead the audience as to whether the persons, objects, places or events presented in the material are real — must be clearly labelled.
Third, if a company uses emotion recognition or biometric categorisation systems, the people exposed to them must be informed of this.
It is worth stating plainly what Article 50 does not require: it does not require labelling every sentence written with the help of a model, nor every graphic/video that was created or enhanced with the help of AI. This year we have read many materials suggesting the opposite. A company that labels everything will not harm itself legally — it will harm itself in its communication.
Staff competence — a provision that has changed in the other direction
Article 4, on AI literacy, has applied since 2 February 2025. The AI Omnibus softened it: providers and deployers of AI systems must support the development of AI literacy of their staff, rather than ensure a set level.
Softening the obligation does not, however, change the reason for having this competence. The provision describes a minimum, not an ambition.
Calendar, as of 13 September 2026
| Date | What starts to apply |
|---|---|
| 2 February 2025 | Prohibited practices (Art. 5) and AI literacy (Art. 4). |
| 2 August 2025 | General-purpose AI models, governance and penalties. |
| 2 August 2026 | The AI Act applies in general, including the transparency obligations of Article 50. |
| 2 December 2026 | End of the transition period for machine-readable marking of content — AI providers will have to mark, in a machine-readable format, all visual content that has come out of their tool. A new ban on creating intimate material with AI without consent will also start to apply. |
| 2 August 2027 | Providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the market before 2 August 2025 should adapt to the AI Act. |
| 2 December 2027 | Obligations for providers and deployers of high-risk systems under Annex III. |
| 2 August 2028 | Obligations for providers and deployers of high-risk systems under Annex I. |
Frequently asked questions
Did the AI Omnibus postpone the transparency obligations of Art. 50?
No. The AI Omnibus, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, moved the obligations for high-risk systems to 2 December 2027 and 2 August 2028. The transparency obligations of Art. 50 have applied since 2 August 2026; only providers of tools placed on the market before that date have until 2 December 2026 for machine-readable marking of content (Art. 50(2)).
Does all marketing copy written with the help of AI have to be labelled?
No. For text, the labelling obligation covers material that informs the public on matters of public interest, so most marketing copy does not need to be labelled. Images, audio and video created using AI that could mislead the audience as to whether the persons, objects, places or events shown are real must be clearly labelled.
Does a chat on a company website have to disclose that it is AI?
Yes. If an AI assistant or chatbot operates on a website, in a mobile app or on a phone call, the user must be informed of this at first contact, unless it is obvious from the circumstances.
Does Art. 4 of the AI Act require companies to buy training?
Following the amendment introduced by the AI Omnibus, Art. 4 states that providers and deployers of AI systems must support the development of AI literacy of their staff, not ensure a set level. The provision does not specify the form of that support. It describes a minimum, not an ambition.
Let’s start with a conversation
Transparency towards customers is one of the measures in the AI value report for the board, and a broader overview of obligations is set out on the AI Act and ESG compliance page. If the communication or sales department needs to put its customer touchpoints in order, let’s arrange a conversation.