EU AI Act Digital Omnibus Enters Into Force Today — August 2 Compliance Is Live

Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 — the Digital Omnibus on AI — was published in the Official Journal on July 25 and enters into force today, July 27, eight days before the AI Act's August 2 general application date. High-risk obligations are deferred: standalone Annex III systems (employment, credit scoring, law enforcement, biometrics) are now due December 2, 2027; Annex I embedded systems (medical devices, machinery, toys) slip to August 2, 2028. What is not deferred matters more: Article 50 transparency duties (chatbot disclosure, deepfake labeling, synthetic content marking) activate August 2 alongside the AI Office's GPAI enforcement powers. The Commission published final Article 50 guidelines on July 20, giving providers 13 days to operationalize them. Pre-existing generative systems get a four-month grace period on machine-readable marking expiring December 2, 2026. Article 75a gives the AI Office exclusive competence over GPAI-model-based systems within the same business group, centralizing supervision. SME simplifications now extend to mid-caps up to 750 employees and €150 million revenue. Penalties are unchanged: €35 million or 7% of global turnover for prohibited practices; €15 million or 3% for high-risk and transparency breaches.