Guides · Article 50 · EU AI Act
What nonprofits should know about Article 50
Nonprofits use AI more than their budgets might suggest: donor and helpline chatbots, AI-written campaign copy, and generated imagery or video for awareness work. Article 50 of the EU AI Act does not carve out non-commercial organisations from its transparency duties, so the same paragraphs can apply. This guide gives a general overview for nonprofit teams. It is informational only, not legal advice, and does not determine whether the Act applies to your organisation.
Support and donor chatbots — Article 50(1), providers
Article 50(1) provides that providers must ensure AI systems intended to interact directly with natural persons are designed so those people are informed they are interacting with an AI system, unless that is obvious to a reasonably well-informed, observant and circumspect person given the context (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689). A helpline bot, a donor-support assistant, or a beneficiary-facing chatbot interacts directly with people, so this provider-side duty is in view. Article 50(5) points toward a clear notice at the latest at first interaction, meeting applicable accessibility requirements — a point that matters when audiences may be in vulnerable circumstances.
Campaign imagery and video — Article 50(2) providers, or 50(4) deployers
Awareness campaigns that generate synthetic images, video, or text can bring different paragraphs into view. If your organisation is the provider of the generating system, Article 50(2) points toward machine-readable marking of synthetic outputs. Where a campaign deploys an AI system that generates or manipulates image, audio or video content constituting a deep fake, Article 50(4) puts a disclosure duty on the deployer. The paragraph modulates the obligation for evidently artistic, creative, satirical, fictional or analogous work, limiting it to disclosing the existence of such content in a manner that does not hamper enjoyment of the work. Whether an output is a 'deep fake' and whether that modulation applies are fact-specific.
Article 50 is not the whole Act for nonprofits
Article 50 covers only the transparency obligations; depending on your systems, other parts of the EU AI Act — including high-risk-system requirements — may also apply. Confirm your full obligations with qualified counsel.
Common questions
Are nonprofits exempt from Article 50 because they aren't commercial?
Article 50's transparency obligations are organised by the kind of AI system, not by whether the organisation is for-profit. Whether a given obligation applies to your chatbot or generated content is fact-specific — confirm with qualified counsel. Our free scope check gives an informational starting point.
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.