The European Union's AI Act moved into enforcement on 2 August 2026, with disclosure duties now applying to chatbots and to content produced by AI. The EU's AI Office can request information from covered companies and ask for access to their models, though it has not yet pursued anyone for misconduct. Anthropic, Google, Meta, OpenAI and Microsoft have each described compliance steps, including watermarking generated text. Rules for high-risk uses such as education, biometrics and migration arrive only in December 2027 and August 2028.
What changed
The AI Act's transparency and disclosure duties were on the books but not yet enforceable, and the EU's AI Office had no power to demand information or model access.
What it unlocks
The EU AI Office can now formally request information from companies covered by the law and ask for access to their models.
- transparency rules in effect 2 Aug 2026
- high-risk rules Dec 2027 and Aug 2028
What you need to act on it
- operating in or selling into the EU
- chatbots or AI-generated content that must be disclosed to users
Sources