EU AI Act Icons: Free Download + Complete Labelling Guide

The EU AI Act now requires businesses to label AI-generated and manipulated content with a visible disclosure icon. This page contains the official EU AI icons, free to download, plus everything your team needs to know about when and how to use them.

What Are The EU AI Act Icons?

The EU AI Act icons are official disclosure labels released by the EU AI Office for businesses to use freely on AI-generated or manipulated content. Under Article 50 of the EU AI Act, businesses that create or publish certain types of AI-generated content for EU audiences are now legally required to label it clearly.

The icons are free to use. No attribution to the EU or AI Office is required.

There are three official EU AI Act icons:

AI + Generated: For content that is fully AI-generated.

AI + Modified: For content that has been partially AI-manipulated.

Basic AI: For use with an interactive second information layer.

Download The Official EU AI Icons Free

All three official EU AI Act disclosure icons are available to download below in multiple formats and colour variations including black, white, and transparent backgrounds.

Icons are publicly available under the EU AI Act Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content and may be used freely by any business or individual.

Which AI Content Needs Labelling Under The EU AI Act?

The EU AI Act labelling requirements apply to two main categories of content:

Deep fakes

Any AI-generated or manipulated image, audio or video content that resembles a real person, place, object or event in a way that could be mistaken for authentic content. This includes:

• AI-generated video featuring realistic human figures
• Voice cloning or synthetic audio resembling a real person
• AI-manipulated footage of real individuals
• AI-enhanced images of real people, places or products that misrepresent reality
• AI dubbing or lip-syncing of real speakers

AI-generated published text

AI-generated or manipulated text that is published externally with the purpose of informing the public on matters of public interest, where no human has conducted genuine editorial review and taken editorial responsibility for the content. This includes:

• AI-generated news articles or industry commentary
• Automated client briefings or market summaries
• AI-written thought leadership published under a real person’s name without genuine review
• AI-generated social media content published at scale on public interest topics

EU AI Act Labelling Rules Explained By Content Type

Video

The EU AI Act labelling rules apply to any video content where AI has been used to generate or manipulate real people. This includes partial manipulation – it doesn’t need to be a full AI-generated video to trigger the requirement. Key scenarios that require the EU AI icon:

• AI-enhanced or retouched footage of real individuals
• Synthetic presenters or avatars resembling real people
• Voice cloning of real speakers
• AI dubbing or lip-syncing of real presenters into other languages
• AI-generated b-roll or scenes featuring realistic human figures

Clearly animated or stylised characters that nobody would mistake for real people fall outside the deep fake definition and do not require labelling.

Design and images

The EU AI Act applies to more than just people. AI manipulation of real places, products or objects that makes them appear different from reality also requires the disclosure icon. Key scenarios that require the EU AI icon:

• AI-generated images of real or realistic people used in advertising
• AI-enhanced product or property images that misrepresent the real item
• AI-manipulated images of real locations or events
• Synthetic customer personas or testimonial images presented as real people

Abstract illustrations, generic AI-generated graphics and clearly stylised visuals that don’t resemble real people, places or things are generally outside scope.

Copywriting  and content

For written content, the trigger is publication on matters of public interest without genuine human editorial oversight. Key scenarios that require the EU AI icon:

• AI-generated articles, reports or commentary published externally
• Automated newsletters or briefings on industry, financial or regulatory topics
• AI-written thought leadership published under a named individual without real review
• AI-generated social media posts on public interest topics published at scale

The editorial exemption is meaningful but requires more than a light proofread. A named individual must genuinely review the content and take real editorial responsibility for it before publication.

What’s exempt?

• Clearly artistic, satirical, fictional or creative work (lighter disclosure rules apply)
• Internal content not published externally or accessible to the public
• AI-generated text that has undergone genuine human editorial review with a named responsible editor
• Content produced for law enforcement purposes

How To Use The EU AI Icons Correctly

Downloading the icons is the easy part. Using them correctly is where most businesses will need to think carefully.

Design rules:

• The icon must feature the capitalised acronym “AI” as the primary visual element
• It must be clearly readable and recognisable at the size used
• It can appear in different colours and styles as long as it remains clear and distinguishable

Placement rules:

• The icon must be visible at the moment of first exposure – not buried in small print or a footer
• It must be embedded in or directly adjacent to the content itself
• For video, it should appear at the start and at regular intervals throughout
• For images, it should appear in a corner or position where it is immediately noticeable
• For text, it should appear above or at the top of the content, near the headline
• For audio-only content, a verbal disclaimer at the start of the audio is required

Accessibility:

The icon must be accessible to all users including those with disabilities. This means screen reader compatibility, sufficient colour contrast, and audio alternatives for visual disclosures where relevant.

Managing EU AI Act Compliance At Scale

For most businesses, the real challenge isn’t knowing which icon to use. It’s building the workflows and processes that make consistent, auditable compliance possible across every team, every project and every piece of content – especially when multiple teams are using multiple AI tools simultaneously.

A marketing agency with separate video, design and copy teams working across dozens of client projects simultaneously faces a very different compliance challenge to a single content creator. The more AI is embedded in your production process, the harder it becomes to track what’s been generated, what’s been manipulated, and what needs labelling – without the right infrastructure in place.

That’s the problem Definition AI was built to solve.

Meet Definition AI: AI Compliance And Workflow Management For Creative Teams

Definition AI is our vendor-agnostic AI platform built for marketing, creative and content teams who need visibility, consistency and control across their AI usage – including the audit trail to demonstrate EU AI Act compliance when it matters.

For video teams

Track which elements of your video content have been AI-generated or manipulated, ensure the right disclosure icon is applied at the right stage of production, and maintain a clear record of AI involvement across every project.

For design teams

Manage AI usage across image and creative production with full visibility of what’s been generated or manipulated, so your team always knows what needs the EU AI icon and what doesn’t.

For copy and content teams

Build genuine human editorial review directly into your AI writing and content workflows. Definition AI makes it straightforward to assign editorial responsibility, document sign-off, and qualify for the editorial exemption under the EU AI Act.

For leadership and compliance

A single platform view of AI usage across all your creative output, with the documentation and audit trail to demonstrate compliance confidently if you’re ever asked by a client, regulator or market surveillance authority.

Vendor agnostic by design

The EU AI Act doesn’t care which AI tools your teams are using. Neither does Definition AI. Whether your teams are working across leading video, image, audio or language models, Definition AI sits across all of them – giving you consistency and control regardless of which tools you use today or add tomorrow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do the EU AI Act labelling rules apply to my business? If your business operates in the EU, serves EU clients, or publishes content online that EU audiences can access, the rules are likely to apply to at least some of your content.

Are the EU AI icons really free to use? Yes. The EU AI Office has released the official icons for free use by any business or individual. No attribution is required.

Does internal content need the EU AI icon? Generally no. The rules primarily target content published externally for public consumption. Internal training materials, documents and communications are largely lower risk, though voice cloning or video manipulation of real individuals remains in scope even internally.

What happens if we don’t label AI content correctly? Non-compliance with Article 50 of the EU AI Act can result in investigation by national market surveillance authorities and potential fines. The reputational risk of being publicly identified as non-compliant is likely to be equally significant for most businesses.

We use lots of different AI tools across our teams. How do we manage compliance consistently? That’s exactly what Definition AI is designed for. Book a demo to see how it works.

Download The EU AI Act Icons And Get Started Today

The official EU AI Act disclosure icons are free, ready to use, and available to download right now. Getting the icons is step one. Building the workflows to use them consistently across your business is where Definition AI comes in.

This guidance is provided by Definition, a marketing agency with specialist video, design, language and AI teams. It is intended as practical guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your business and content, consult a qualified legal professional familiar with EU AI Act obligations.