The European Commission's guidelines on the transparency rules in Article 50 of the AI Act were published in the EU's Official Journal on November 12, 2026, as C/2026/6005, PPC Land reported. The 43-page document, first released in July, states that it is non-binding and that only the Court of Justice of the EU can interpret the act authoritatively. According to the guidelines, a company based outside the EU that uses AI to make a celebrity deep fake for an ad shown in the EU is a deployer covered by the act, unless the content reaches EU audiences through channels that are unforeseeable and outside its control.
The guidelines list an AI product image in an ad or on packaging that makes the product look more appealing or better than in real life as a deep fake needing a visible label. AI color correction, aesthetic background swaps and re-scaling are likely to have only a minor impact. AI ad copy and product descriptions fall outside the text-labeling rule unless they make health, consumer safety or sustainability claims. A brand that merely commissions an agency, without controlling how it uses AI, is not a deployer, and a provider's machine-readable watermark does not satisfy the label duty.
E-commerce and support chatbots must disclose that they are AI, while virtual try-on and product rendering are out of scope. AI agents that execute purchases must disclose both their artificial nature and on whose behalf they act. Fines reach EUR 15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher, with the lower figure applying to SMEs. Generative systems on the market before August 2, 2026, have until December 2, 2026, to meet the marking duty. PPC Land noted an NYU Stern finding, cited by the IAB, that AI disclosure cut ad click-through by 31.5%.