Glossary
Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-generated Content
The voluntary EU code, assessed adequate by the European Commission in July 2026, that sets out how providers and deployers of generative AI meet the marking and labelling duties in Article 50 of the EU AI Act.
Term: Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-generated Content
The Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-generated Content is a voluntary EU code, published on 10 June 2026 and assessed as adequate by the European Commission and the AI Board in July 2026. It sets out how the organisations that build and use generative AI meet the transparency duties in Article 50 of the EU AI Act, which apply from 2 August 2026.
Why it matters
Article 50 asks two different things of two different groups. Providers of generative AI systems must mark their output so that it can be detected as AI-generated. Deployers must label deep fakes and tell readers when text published to inform the public on a matter of public interest was produced by AI, unless a person has reviewed it and holds editorial responsibility. The Code splits along the same line: Section 1 for providers, Section 2 for deployers.
Signing is voluntary and not signing is not a breach of the Act. What a signature offers is a recognised route to compliance, backed by the Commission’s adequacy opinion, and a shared set of practices, including an official set of EU icons for labelling. Adherence doesn’t count as conclusive evidence of compliance, so the procedures behind the signature still have to hold up.
How it works in practice
An organisation signs one or both sections by returning the Commission’s signature form, and its name is added to the published list of signatories. A Section 2 signatory commits to labelling deep fakes and AI-generated published text in the way the Code specifies, to an internal compliance process, to staff awareness and to cooperation with the authorities. Most of that work is editorial rather than technical: deciding who reviews what before publication, recording that review and disclosing AI use where the Code requires it.
QL Security signed Section 2 in August 2026 and is listed among the Code’s signatories. Our How We Use AI statement sets out how we apply it to what we publish. The AI Content Transparency Checker shows in a few minutes whether Article 50 reaches your organisation and whether your editorial process would hold.
Related terms: EU AI Act and AI Governance.
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