Reputation \u00b7 14 August 2026<\/p>\n
Since 2 August 2026, a deepfake used in a professional setting must be labelled visibly. This is no longer a communications recommendation. It is Article 50 of the AI Act. For an SME, the word \u201cdeepfake\u201d still evokes a political video or a CEO fraud. The text, for its part, also covers the generated voice-over for a local ad, the synthetic face on a landing page, the demonstration video that is too smooth. The risk is not only the fine (up to \u20ac15 million or 3% of worldwide turnover on the transparency strand). It is a customer who discovers that \u201cthe testimonial\u201d was not a person, and who does not come back.<\/p>\n
Article 50 distinguishes several layers. Synthetic content (audio, image, video, text) must carry a machine-readable marking. Systems already placed on the market before 2 August 2026 have until 2 December 2026 for that machine-readable marking (Article 50(2)). Deepfakes in professional use must be labelled visibly from 2 August. AI-generated text of public interest, if it has had only limited human review, must indicate the use of AI.<\/p>\n
Visible means perceptible by a human under normal viewing conditions. C2PA metadata, an invisible watermark (Anthropic has announced a text watermark in Claude from 2 August; the detector is not public) or SynthID on image and audio (OpenAI \/ DeepMind) help machine tracing. They do not replace the caption, overlay or credits the customer can read.<\/p>\n
Professional use: as soon as the content serves your activity (sales, recruitment, press relations, customer training, company social network), you are no longer in private leisure. A VSE that posts on LinkedIn is in that frame.<\/p>\n
First case: the commercial visual that simulates reality. Flat, guest room, renovated fa\u00e7ade, machined part, restaurant dish. If the image is not a photo of the property or the service, and it can pass for one, the label is required. A hotel agent<\/a> that sends that image in reply to \u201cdo you have a photo of room 12?\u201d makes the problem worse: the customer believes they hold proof.<\/p>\n Second case: voice and face. A vocal clone of the director for a welcome message, an avatar of an \u201cadviser\u201d, a generated testimonial video. Even if the intent is to lighten production, the public hears a person. Without a clear mention, you expose the company to a loss of trust, and the director to an impersonation whose circulation they will no longer control.<\/p>\n Third case: the deepfake of which you are the victim, not the author. A fake call from the manager, a fake voice invoice, a fake story. The AI Act does not stop the attack. It obliges those who produce professionally to mark. For you, the job is AI cybersecurity<\/a>: call procedure, confirmation channel, awareness in accounts. A cybersecurity audit<\/a> that ignores voice fraud is no longer up to date.<\/p>\n It does not ask you to stop all synthetic imagery. It does not ask for an \u201cAI\u201d banner on every sentence reviewed by a human. It does not turn a light lighting retouch into a deepfake. Stay proportionate: the spirit of the text is to stop a professional passing a fabrication off as reality. Prohibited practices (manipulation, and so on) fall under another cap, already applicable (up to \u20ac35 million or 7% of worldwide turnover). A misleading fake testimonial is not only a forgotten label. It is a problem of commercial loyalty, AI Act or not.<\/p>\n The AI Office may investigate providers of general-purpose models since 2 August 2026. Your risk, in an SME, will more often run through a customer or a local paper than through a European investigation. Reputation does not wait for the regulator.<\/p>\n We help VSEs and SMEs connect agents, content and security: what the agent is allowed to send, what must carry a mention. Patrick Dajan Mouelle, director of Cybernecs, refuses campaigns of the \u201cyou won\u2019t see the difference\u201d type. If you cannot see the difference, the label is there to restore it.<\/p>\nSix actions to protect reputation, not only the file<\/h2>\n
\n
What the regulation does not ask of you<\/h2>\n
Cybernecs framing<\/h2>\n