VL Studio / AI / EU AI Act chatbots
EU AI Act Article 50 · chatbot disclosure
Is your website chatbot legal under the EU’s August 2026 rules?
Since August 2, 2026, the EU AI Act's transparency rules apply: people must be told when they are talking to an AI system. Take the free 2-minute self-check below, see what to fix, and let us fix it for you.
General information, not legal advice · Last updated October 2026
Article 50 in plain English
What the law asks of a chatbot.
The transparency obligations are in Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the AI Act), Article 50, and have applied since August 2, 2026. Breaches of Article 50 can be fined under Article 99 — up to €15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover, with the lower of the two applying to SMEs, startups and small mid-cap companies.
Tell people it's AI
AI systems that interact directly with people must be designed so those people are informed they are interacting with an AI system — unless that is obvious to a reasonably well-informed person. Don't rely on the exception for a chat bubble that looks like a human agent.
Clearly, at first contact
The information must be clear and distinguishable, given at the latest at the first interaction, and meet accessibility requirements. A line buried in your privacy policy is not enough.
Machine-readable marking
Providers of systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video or text must mark outputs as AI-generated in a machine-readable way. For systems already on the market before August 2, 2026, the AI Omnibus (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744) gives them until December 2, 2026.
AI text on public matters
Deployers who publish AI-generated text to inform the public on matters of public interest must disclose it, unless a human reviewed it and holds editorial responsibility. Deepfakes need disclosure too, with lighter rules for clearly artistic or satirical work.
This page is general information, not legal advice. For decisions about your specific situation, talk to a qualified lawyer. The European Commission published a final voluntary Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content in June 2026, and draft Article 50 guidelines in May 2026.
The GDPR overlap
The AI Act is only half the picture.
A website chatbot processes personal data — names, emails, phone numbers, whatever visitors type. The GDPR has applied to that all along, and it is where most small-business chatbots actually fall short.
Privacy notice covers the chat
Your notice should say a chatbot is used, what it collects, why, which AI vendor processes it and for how long it is kept.
DPA with the AI vendor
Your chatbot platform and model provider process data on your behalf, so you need a data processing agreement (GDPR Article 28) with each.
Keep it only as long as needed
Chat logs shouldn't live forever. Set a retention period, delete on schedule, and make deletion requests easy to honor.
Free self-check
Eight questions. Two minutes.
Tick what is already true for your website chatbot. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you tick is sent anywhere.
A self-check is a starting point, not a legal assessment. Want us to look at your actual chatbot? Request a free check.
The greeting
The fix often starts with one sentence.
An illustrative example of a first message before and after. The wording is yours to choose — what matters is that it is clear, first and impossible to miss.
| Option | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| First message | “Hi, I'm Sarah! How can I help you today?” | “Hi, I'm the AI assistant for Bright Dental. I can answer questions and book visits — or connect you with our team at any time.” |
| Human option | None | “Talk to a person” button, always visible |
| Privacy | Generic site policy | Short notice link in the chat window covering the AI chat |
Our offer
from $2,000 + $297/mo
GDPR-ready AI website chat · New customers: $1,600 + $238/mo
Already have a chatbot? We check it for free and quote the compliance fix at a fixed price before any work. Or we build you a new AI chat, transparent by design.
Get a free check →- AI disclosure in the first message, accessible markup
- Human handoff to email, phone or live chat
- EU-hosted model and data options where available
- Retention limits and automatic deletion
- Privacy-notice wording for your lawyer to review
- Trained on your business, qualifies and books leads
We are not a law firm and don't give legal advice. We implement the technical side and give your lawyer the details they need.
FAQ
Questions,
answered.
Does Article 50 apply to my small business chatbot?
If your chatbot talks to people in the EU, the disclosure duty in Article 50(1) is very likely relevant: the system must be designed so people know they're talking to AI. Formally that duty sits with the provider of the system, but as the business putting it on your website you're the one visitors and regulators will look at, so make sure it's in place. Check your situation with a lawyer.
When did the chatbot disclosure rule start?
On August 2, 2026. The AI Omnibus (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, in force since July 27, 2026) postponed high-risk AI requirements to December 2, 2027 and August 2, 2028, but it left the Article 50 date in place. The only relief was a grace period to December 2, 2026 for machine-readable marking by generative systems already on the market.
What are the fines?
Under Article 99, breaches of the Article 50 transparency obligations can be fined up to €15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover. For SMEs, startups and small mid-cap companies the lower of the two amounts applies. GDPR fines are separate.
Is a line in the privacy policy enough?
No. Article 50(5) requires the information to be clear and distinguishable, at the latest at the first interaction. That means in the chat itself, not only in a document visitors rarely open.
We're a US business. Does this matter?
The AI Act can apply to systems used in the EU even if the business is outside it. If you serve EU customers through your website, it's worth checking. Several US states have their own chatbot disclosure laws too.
Is the self-check stored anywhere?
No. It runs entirely in your browser; nothing you tick is sent to us or anyone else.
How much does the compliance fix cost?
It depends on your chatbot platform, so we quote it at a fixed price after a free check. A new GDPR-ready AI website chat starts at $2,000 + $297/mo, with 20% off for new customers.
Next step
Send us your site.
We'll check the chat for free.
Thanks — your request was sent. We'll reply within one business day.
Please add your name and a valid email, then send again.