EU AI Act: Article 50 applies now, high-risk from December 2027
EU AI Act Compliance for SMEs
The Article 50 transparency obligations have applied since 2 August 2026; the high-risk obligations follow on 2 December 2027 under the Digital Omnibus. If your public-facing AI has never been checked against Article 50, that gap is live now.
We classify your AI systems by risk level, produce the documentation the regulation requires, and (if you need it) build compliant systems from scratch. One team, both jobs.
CIPP/E certified. Fixed-price. No hourly billing.
Applies to you now
£250Article 50 Compliance Check
The Article 50 transparency duties have applied since 2 August 2026. Systems built to interact with people must be designed so people know they are dealing with AI. Synthetic audio, image, video and text must be marked so a machine can detect it. Deployers running emotion recognition or biometric categorisation must tell the people exposed to it. Whether your own surfaces meet them is a specific, checkable question.
Send us where your AI touches the public: your chatbot, your AI-written content, your synthetic media. Within 72 hours you get a written gap note covering what already complies, what is exposed, and what to change, with the Article 50 basis for each point and whether the duty falls on you as provider or as deployer.
- Fixed fee. Written note you keep. No call required.
- Delivered within 72 hours of confirmation.
- If you go deeper, the £250 is credited against the £500 scoping review.
Want a first read before booking? The free Article 50 Duty Mapper maps your duties in a few questions.
What we do
Risk classification
Included in scoping reviewWe classify every AI system you run: prohibited, high-risk, limited, or minimal. This determines what documentation and processes you need. Most SMEs have a mix.
Conformity assessment (high-risk)
From £5,000Technical documentation, risk management system, data governance practices, human oversight mechanisms, accuracy and robustness testing. The full package the regulation requires for high-risk AI.
Transparency documentation (limited risk)
From £1,500AI disclosure notices, user-facing transparency, labelling requirements. What most chatbots and content generation tools need.
GDPR + AI Act combined
From £3,500DPIA, DPA review, privacy notices, AI Act risk classification, and conformity documentation, all in one engagement. This is what most SMEs actually need.
The timeline
The AI Act is phased. Some obligations are already enforceable.
February 2, 2025
Enforceable
Prohibited AI practices banned
August 2, 2025
Enforceable
General-purpose AI model rules
August 2, 2026
Upcoming
Article 50 transparency obligations
December 2, 2027
Future
High-risk (Annex III) obligations
August 2, 2028
Future
High-risk AI in Annex I products
Start here
AI Act Scoping Review: £500
We classify every AI system you run, identify what the regulation requires for each one, and give you a written action plan. One week, fixed price.
- Risk classification of every AI system
- Gap analysis against GDPR and AI Act requirements
- Written report with prioritised recommendations
- If you proceed to full compliance work, the £500 is deducted
Sample Deliverables
See the work before you buy
Blog posts explain the ideas. These sample deliverables show what the work product actually looks like.
Most useful for GDPR + AI buyers
Sample DPIA structure for an AI chatbot
A redacted outline showing the sections, risk analysis, and controls we include in a real AI-system DPIA.
Quick proof of practical drafting
Sample privacy notice update
A before-and-after example showing how a privacy notice changes once an AI system is introduced.
Useful before hiring any AI vendor
AI vendor due diligence checklist
A practical checklist covering DPAs, retention, subprocessors, transfers, security, and exit risk.
Questions
Does the EU AI Act apply to UK businesses?
If your AI system affects EU residents (chatbot serving Irish customers, fraud detection covering European transactions, any AI output reaching the EU) it applies. The Act reaches beyond the EU, though on its own Article 2 tests rather than GDPR’s.
Is my chatbot high-risk?
Probably not. Most customer service chatbots are limited-risk. The main obligation is telling users they are talking to AI. High-risk applies to AI making significant decisions about people: credit scoring, recruitment, insurance pricing, eligibility assessments. We classify your system as part of the scoping review.
What does the £500 scoping review cover?
We classify every AI system you run by risk level, identify what documentation is needed, and give you a prioritised action plan. Written report, 1 week. If you proceed to full compliance work, the £500 is deducted.
I already have GDPR documentation. Does that help?
Significantly. DPIAs, DPAs, privacy notices, and retention policies all feed into AI Act compliance. The AI Act adds to GDPR. It does not replace it. If your GDPR house is in order, you are further along than most.
What happens if I do nothing before August 2?
Fines up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover for prohibited practices, and up to €15 million or 3% for other violations, with SMEs and start-ups paying whichever of the two figures is lower. More practically: the first enforcement actions will target businesses with no documentation at all. Having documentation (even imperfect) is materially better than having none.
August 2 is coming.
£500 scoping review. Written report in one week. No obligation.
Book the scoping review