Google has signed the European Union’s Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content, reinforcing its commitment to responsible AI deployment while raising concerns over increasing regulatory complexity. The move comes ahead of the EU AI Act’s transparency obligations, which take effect on August 2, 2026.
In a blog post, Karen Massin, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy – EU Institutions at Google, said the company is joining the voluntary code to support the responsible use of AI in Europe. Google noted that the commitment builds on its 2025 signing of the General-Purpose AI (GPAI) Code of Practice and aligns with its continued adoption of the C2PA industry standard and its AI transparency initiatives, including SynthID, Google’s digital watermarking technology for AI-generated content.
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Google also highlighted its collaborations with companies including Apple, ElevenLabs, Kakao, NVIDIA and OpenAI to promote interoperable watermarking tools based on SynthID, aimed at improving transparency across AI-generated content.
While endorsing transparency measures, the company expressed reservations about the evolving regulatory framework. Google said that layering additional compliance requirements while technical standards are still developing could undermine Europe’s goals of competitiveness and simplification. It also warned that an excess of AI labels and legal disclosures could make it harder for users to understand the context of AI-generated content.
The EU’s transparency rules require providers and deployers of certain AI systems to disclose AI interactions and appropriately mark or label AI-generated and manipulated content, including deepfakes. The obligations become applicable from August 2, 2026, with accompanying guidelines published by the European Commission to support compliance.
