Policy Updates
Regulatory and standards developments affecting accountable AI. Each entry states its primary source. We do not assert a deadline we have not read in the instrument itself.
Synthetic content marking: grace period closes 2 December 2026
The EU AI Act's requirement to mark AI-generated audio, image, video and text in a machine-readable format has applied since 2 August 2026, but systems already on the market were given until 2 December 2026. That is the nearest live deadline in the Act and it is three months away. Marking is a build task, not a policy one, which is what makes it easy to leave too late.
Read the updateArticle 50 transparency obligations now apply
From 2 August 2026 the EU AI Act's transparency duties apply: people must be told when they are interacting with an AI system, synthetic audio, image, video and text must be machine-readable as artificially generated, those exposed to emotion-recognition or biometric categorisation must be informed, and deepfakes and AI-generated text on matters of public interest must be labelled. Penalties reach EUR 15 million or 3% of global turnover. One grace period remains open.
Read the updateDigital Omnibus in force: high-risk AI obligations deferred to December 2027
The EU's Digital Omnibus on AI was published in the Official Journal on 24 July 2026 and entered into force on 27 July. Obligations for stand-alone high-risk systems (Annex III) move from 2 August 2026 to 2 December 2027, and for AI embedded in already-regulated products (Annex I) to 2 August 2028. The deferral is now law rather than proposal, which matters: many compliance plans were still being written against the original August 2026 date.
Read the updateSouth Africa's draft National AI Policy withdrawn in its entirety
The Draft National AI Policy, gazetted on 10 April 2026, was withdrawn in full by government notice on 12 June 2026 after at least six of its 67 academic references were found not to exist. Journal editors confirmed the attributed articles had never been published. Two officials are on precautionary suspension and an internal investigation continues. Revised documents are targeted for Cabinet in November 2026, with public comment in January 2027.
Read the updateWhere regulation stands by jurisdiction
Updates record what changed. The regulatory map records the current position in each jurisdiction we track.
Open the regulatory map