EU AI Act Article 50(2) — Marking AI-generated or manipulated content in a machine-readable format
Providers of AI systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video or text must mark the outputs in a machine-readable format so they are detectable as artificially generated or manipulated
Where this comes from
Provision: Article 50(2) — Marking AI-generated or manipulated content in a machine-readable format
Instrument: EU Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689)
Citation: Article 50(2), Regulation (EU) 2024/1689
Text version: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), OJ L, 12.7.2024
Checked against the source: 2 September 2026
Who it applies to
AI system in scope of the Act (Art. 2) — all of these:
- Service deploys AI systems in a professional capacity
- AI Act role is Provider or we provide some AI systems and deploy others
Generates synthetic audio, image, video or text — any one of these:
- AI transparency features includes The system generates or manipulates image, audio or video that resembles...
- AI transparency features includes The system generates text that is published to inform the public on matters...
…unless:
- AI Act scope exclusion is used exclusively for military, defence or national-security purposes or developed and used solely for scientific research and development
- Art. 2(3): the Regulation 'does not apply to AI systems where and in so far as they are placed on the market, put into service, or used with or without modification exclusively for military, defence or national security purposes'. (AI Act Art. 2(3))
- Art. 2(6): the Regulation 'does not apply to AI systems or AI models, including their output, specifically developed and put into service for the sole purpose of scientific research and development'. (AI Act Art. 2(6))
- Each Art. 50 transparency duty is disapplied for AI systems authorised by law to detect, prevent, investigate or prosecute criminal offences, subject to appropriate safeguards for the rights and freedoms of third parties — except, for Art. (AI Act Art. 50(1), (2), (3) and (4))
- Art. 50(2) does not apply 'to the extent the AI systems perform an assistive function for standard editing or do not substantially alter the input data provided by the deployer or the semantics thereof'. (AI Act Art. 50(2), final sentence)
- Art. 50(2) requires technical solutions that are 'effective, interoperable, robust and reliable as far as this is technically feasible, taking into account the specificities and limitations of various types of content, the costs of implementation and the... (AI Act Art. 50(2) ("as far as this is technically feasible") and Art. 50(7))
Scope in the source's own terms
- Art. 2(1): the AI system is placed on the market or put into service in the Union, or the provider/deployer is established in the Union, or the output produced by the system is used in the Union
- Art. 16(a) ('Providers of high-risk AI systems shall …'), read with Art. 3(3): the actor develops the system or has it developed and places it on the market or puts it into service under its own name or trade mark — or is its authorised representative under Art. 22
- Art. 50(2): the triggering feature is an AI system, 'including general-purpose AI systems', that generates synthetic audio, image, video or text content whose outputs must be marked machine-readably and detectably
What engineering work it implies
- AI Transparency Notices (Chatbot, Emotion/Biometric, Synthetic Media)Covers it fully
The three Article 50 disclosures as shippable components: an AI-interaction notice, an emotion/biometric exposure notice, and synthetic-media labelling with a...
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Every generated audio, image, video or text output carries a machine-readable marking, applied where the output is produced
- The marking follows an interoperable, published format rather than a private convention
- The marking is signed, so a stripped or altered marking is detectable by a third party
- The marking survives the delivery pipeline (resize, re-encode, CDN transformation), asserted by an automated check
- An output that cannot be marked is not returned — the generation fails closed
Evidence an auditor expects
- Technical controlTechnical audit
Machine-readable marking specification and its implementation for synthetic outputs
A written specification of the marking applied to each synthetic output type (audio, image, video, text), the technique used, and where the marking sits in the output pipeline — plus code or configuration evidence that it is applied by default. The Regulation delegates the technique to the state of the art "as may be reflected in relevant technical standards" and to the Art. 50(7) codes of practice: cite the standard or code relied on rather than treating any particular scheme as legally mandated
- Test resultsTechnical auditReviewed on each change to the generation pipeline, and on publication of a relevant harmonised standard or code of practice
Effectiveness, interoperability, robustness and reliability testing of the marking
Test results showing the marking survives ordinary transformations for each content type, is detectable by a third party, and interoperates with the detection tooling the chosen standard defines — with a documented state-of-the-art assessment for any content type where marking was judged not technically feasible
Questions people ask
- Does EU AI Act Article 50(2) — Marking AI-generated or manipulated content in a ma… apply to my service?
- It applies when Service deploys AI systems in a professional capacity; AI Act role is Provider or we provide some AI systems and deploy others; and at least one of: AI transparency features includes The system generates or manipulates image, audio or video that resembles...; AI transparency features includes The system generates text that is published to inform the public on matters.... It does not apply where AI Act scope exclusion is used exclusively for military, defence or national-security purposes or developed and used solely for scientific research and development.
- When does this become enforceable?
- EU AI Act Article 50(2) — Marking AI-generated or manipulated content in a ma… is enforceable from 2 August 2026. Its current status is: in force.
- What evidence does an auditor expect?
- Machine-readable marking specification and its implementation for synthetic outputs; Effectiveness, interoperability, robustness and reliability testing of the marking.
Find out whether this one lands on you
Landfall's pre-scan answers the applicability question above for your product in minutes, then turns every obligation that applies into traceable engineering tickets with a citation chain your auditors can follow.
Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.