AI Act in France: who enforces it, and what applies now
The AI Act’s transparency duties (Article 50) apply from August 2, 2026, yet France’s enforcement authorities are still a bill in Parliament. The timeline, the proposed authorities, and what an SMB running a chatbot should do now.
In short: the EU AI Act is a regulation, so it applies in France without any national law. Its Article 50 transparency obligations — telling people they are interacting with an AI, marking AI-generated content — apply from August 2, 2026. What France still lacks is the formal designation of the authorities that will enforce it: the government’s scheme of September 9, 2025 was still awaiting adoption by Parliament as of September 22, 2026.
Timeline
| Date | Step | Status |
|---|---|---|
| August 1, 2024 | Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act) enters into force | Done |
| August 2, 2025 | Deadline in Article 70 for Member States to designate their national competent authorities | Missed by France |
| September 9, 2025 | French government publishes its governance scheme: DGCCRF as coordinator and single point of contact, sector regulators alongside | DGCCRF announcement |
| August 2, 2026 | Article 50 transparency obligations apply | Applicable |
| September 22, 2026 | Designation provisions still awaiting adoption by Parliament | Pending |
Who would do what under the proposed scheme
| Authority | Proposed role |
|---|---|
| DGCCRF | Coordination and single point of contact; consumer-facing practices |
| CNIL | Biometrics and AI systems processing personal data |
| Arcom | Deepfakes and transparency of generated content |
| ACPR | High-risk AI systems in finance |
| ANSSI | Cybersecurity |
What it means for an SMB running a chatbot or AI agent
The missing designation changes who will check, not what you must do. If customers talk to a chatbot, a WhatsApp agent or a voice assistant, they must be told it is an AI. How you say it matters: in a field experiment published in Marketing Science, Luo, Tong, Fang and Qu (2019) found that disclosing a sales chatbot’s identity reduced purchases, because customers perceived the disclosed bot as less knowledgeable and less empathetic. Disclosure is mandatory; the lesson is to pair it with an assistant that is genuinely competent and a quick path to a human.
Checklist
- →List every AI touchpoint customers see: website chatbot, WhatsApp agent, voice assistant, AI-written emails.
- →Add a clear AI disclosure at the start of each conversation, in the customer’s language.
- →Offer a visible way to reach a human, and log when it is used.
- →Mark AI-generated images, audio or video you publish.
- →Keep a dated record of these steps: whichever authority is finally designated will look at what you did.
Frequently asked questions
Does the AI Act apply in France if no authority has been designated?+
Yes. The AI Act is an EU regulation, directly applicable in every Member State. The missing French designation affects who enforces it, not whether its obligations apply.
Which French authority will enforce the AI Act?+
Under the government scheme of September 9, 2025, the DGCCRF would coordinate and act as single point of contact, with the CNIL, Arcom, ACPR and ANSSI in their fields. As of September 22, 2026, this scheme was still awaiting adoption by Parliament.
What does Article 50 require for a customer-service chatbot?+
That people are informed they are interacting with an AI system, unless it is obvious from the context. It applies from August 2, 2026.
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