New EU guidelines on AI transparency: what do providers and users need to know in 2026?

MarGib August 21, 2026

🌐 🇵🇱 Polski · 🇬🇧 EN

The EU AI Act imposes entirely new obligations on the technology market. A key element of these changes is the transparency rules, which define how and when companies must disclose the use of algorithms. We examine what these regulations mean in practice for businesses and for us – ordinary network users.

Zespół specjalistów analizujący wytyczne dotyczące przejrzystości systemów AI na dużym ekranie w biurze. — Illustration showing a team of experts discussing the new EU guidelines on AI transparency.

Why are the new rules important?

The European Commission's guidelines represent a key step in implementing the AI Act – the EU regulation on artificial intelligence, the provisions of which are coming into force in stages. These documents do not introduce new laws, but clarify how to interpret the obligations arising from the EU regulation. For companies, this means clear guidance on how to adapt their systems to legal requirements, and for users – greater awareness of when and how they are interacting with algorithm-based technologies.

The regulations primarily concern two categories of systems:

High-risk systems, i.e., those that can significantly impact people's lives (e.g., in medicine, transport, education, or recruitment).
Generative systems, such as language models, chatbots, or tools for creating deepfakes, which can mislead recipients.

Importantly, the regulations do not cover all technologies without exception. Simple tools for business process automation that do not influence critical decisions remain outside their scope. The key criterion is the potential risk of manipulation or harm to users.

What obligations do EU regulations impose?

The new rules introduce specific requirements for two groups: providers of AI systems and entities that deploy them in their operations (so-called deployers).

Obligations for AI system providers

Providers – i.e., companies that create and make AI systems available – must meet several key requirements:

Disclosure of training data information: Creators are required to provide summaries regarding the content used to train models. However, this does not mean disclosing technical details that could violate trade secrets.
Technical documentation: It must include a description of the model architecture, the training process, and mechanisms ensuring its safety. This documentation must be available to supervisory authorities.
Labeling of AI-generated content: All synthetic content (e.g., images, audio, text) should be clearly labeled in a way that allows for its detection, so that users know it is not the direct work of a human.

In its documents, the Commission repeatedly emphasizes that transparency is the foundation of responsible artificial intelligence development and building social trust in new technologies.

Obligations for entities deploying AI systems

Companies and institutions that use off-the-shelf AI systems in their operations must also adapt to the new rules. These include:

Informing about interaction with AI: If a user communicates with a chatbot or other conversational system, they must be clearly informed about it.
Disclosing the purpose of technology use: In specific cases, companies must inform about the purpose for which they use AI systems, for example when analyzing user behavior.
Explaining decisions made by algorithms: In the case of systems that affect people's life situations (e.g., in credit scoring), entities using these solutions must ensure the possibility of obtaining an explanation of how a given decision was reached.

The regulations leave companies some freedom in choosing technical ways to achieve these goals, which on one hand facilitates implementation, but on the other – raises questions about the consistency of the solutions applied.

How do the guidelines relate to the AI Act?

The AI Act is the primary legal act regulating artificial intelligence in the European Union. The guidelines published by the Commission help interpret its provisions in daily business practice. Key areas of the regulation addressed by these guidelines include:

Transparency rules: Information obligations for generative systems, including detection and labeling of synthetic content.
Documentation requirements: Detailed rules regarding technical documentation and registration of high-risk systems in the EU database.
Protection of recipients: Standards for presenting information so that users can easily recognize when they are dealing with an algorithm's action.

The guidelines do not change the content of the regulation itself, but serve as a practical manual for entrepreneurs.

Implementation timeline

The implementation of the AI Act has been phased over time so that the market can smoothly adapt to new standards. Deadlines depend on the degree of risk posed by a given system:

Prohibitions regarding prohibited systems (e.g., social scoring) came into force earliest.
Provisions regarding general-purpose models enter into force in the next stage.
Most obligations for high-risk systems and detailed transparency rules become fully enforceable after a two-year transition period from the entry into force of the act.

For many smaller entities and startups, adapting to these timeframes can be a major organizational and financial challenge, as EU law does not provide for total exemptions from obligations based on company size.

Sanctions for non-compliance

Penalties for violating the AI Act are high and have a deterrent effect. According to the provisions of the regulation, maximum financial sanctions can amount to:

Up to 35 million EUR or 7% of total worldwide annual turnover for using prohibited practices.
Up to 15 million EUR or 3% of worldwide turnover for non-compliance with other obligations, including transparency and documentation requirements.
Up to 7.5 million EUR or 1.5% of turnover for providing false or misleading information to supervisory authorities.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, milder penalty limits are provided, although they can still be burdensome for the budgets of young companies.

Industry reactions and comments

The new regulations are sparking a lively discussion among entrepreneurs, social organizations, and lawyers.

Voice of the business sector

Organizations representing the digital and technology sector support the push for increased transparency, but point to the risk of excessive administrative burden. They indicate that complex procedures may slow down innovation in Europe and involve high implementation costs, especially for smaller entities.

On the other hand, civil rights organizations view the direction of the changes positively, emphasizing that clear labeling of synthetic content is essential for fighting disinformation. However, they point to the need for precise enforcement of these regulations in practice.

Actions of technology platforms

The largest players on the market have already been implementing their own systems for labeling content generated by artificial intelligence for a long time. However, industry representatives often note that the lack of uniform global standards makes it difficult to efficiently implement such solutions worldwide, and differences in regulations between regions pose a significant logistical challenge.

Expert perspective

Experts in technology ethics and digital law emphasize that the regulations alone will not solve all problems. The key will be how the new rules affect the daily habits of users and whether they will realistically help them distinguish truth from manipulation. Transparency is not just a technical issue, but above all a social one.

How do the new regulations affect users?

The regulations are intended to directly translate into the safety and comfort of using the network. Here are the most important changes from the recipient's perspective:

Easier identification of deepfakes: Synthetic content, especially that which could be misleading, should be clearly labeled, which will facilitate the assessment of information credibility on social media.
Informed contact with bots: The user will have clarity on whether they are talking to a human or a programmed algorithm.
Greater control over personalization: The regulations aim to ensure that users are better informed about how algorithms influence the content they see on their device screens.

Much now depends on how individual platforms design their interfaces – whether the labels will be readable and intuitive, or whether they will disappear in the clutter of other legal notices.

Frequently asked questions

Do the new rules apply to all AI systems?

No. The regulations focus on high-risk systems and generative tools that can influence human decisions or mislead them. Simple utility programs or automation systems without a decision-making component are not subject to these rigors.

Do small companies have to meet the same requirements as corporations?

In principle, yes; the obligations apply to all entities placing AI systems on the EU market. However, the regulations provide for certain procedural facilitations and lower financial penalties for the SME sector and startups.

Do the regulations apply outside the European Union?

The AI Act applies within the EU, but it has an extraterritorial nature. This means that any company from outside the Union that offers its AI systems to users on the European market must comply with these regulations.

What are the penalties for not labeling AI-generated content?

Failure to fulfill information obligations and failure to label synthetic content can result in financial penalties imposed by national supervisory authorities, reaching up to 15 million EUR or 3% of a company's global turnover in extreme cases.

Do private users of AI tools need to fear penalties?

No. The regulations govern commercial, professional, and public activities. Private individuals using image or text generators for personal use are not subject to these restrictions.

Summary: towards responsible technology

EU regulations are an important step towards regulating the artificial intelligence market. For business, they mean the necessity of auditing their tools and implementing compliance procedures, and for us – a chance for safer use of the digital world.

Although the new obligations raise concerns about the pace of innovation, their introduction seems inevitable in the face of the rapid development of generative technologies. Companies that take care of the transparency of their systems early enough can gain customer trust and a competitive advantage in the market.

If you are interested in the topic of AI in the context of education or its impact on our daily lives, check out our previous posts, such as Does AI make us stupid? 2026 research on the impact of artificial intelligence on our brain or AI in higher education: What skills are disappearing and what are emerging in the age of artificial intelligence?.