Guides · Article 50 · EU AI Act
AI-generated content labeling under the EU AI Act
If your product generates synthetic audio, images, video, or text, Article 50(2) of the EU AI Act addresses marking those outputs so they are detectable as AI-generated. This guide summarizes the requirement from the regulation text. Informational only — not legal advice.
What Article 50(2) requires
The regulation text provides that providers of AI systems, including general-purpose AI systems, generating synthetic audio, image, video or text content must ensure that the outputs are marked in a machine-readable format and detectable as artificially generated or manipulated. The technical solutions must be effective, interoperable, robust and reliable as far as technically feasible, taking into account the specificities and limitations of the content type, the costs of implementation, and the generally acknowledged state of the art (Article 50(2), Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).
This is a machine-readable marking obligation — think metadata or watermarking — rather than a single visible sentence, though a human-readable notice often accompanies it.
The carve-outs
The obligation does not apply to the extent the AI performs an assistive function for standard editing, or does not substantially alter the input data provided by the deployer or its semantics, or where authorised by law for certain law-enforcement purposes. Whether your generator falls inside the paragraph, and whether a carve-out applies, are fact-specific questions.
What teams document
- Inventory each output type the AI system can generate (audio, image, video, text).
- Select and record the machine-readable marking method for each type.
- Document why the method is effective, interoperable, robust, and reliable so far as technically feasible.
- Note any technical standards you are tracking.
- If relying on the assistive-editing or no-substantial-alteration carve-out, record the rationale.
See what may apply to your business
Answer seven quick questions for an automated, informational indication of which Article 50 obligations appear likely to apply — free, and not legal advice.