AI chatbots must say they are AI from the first message

Customer-facing AI chatbots must disclose that the shopper is talking to AI by the first message — not buried in the terms. For online consumer-goods retailers: under Article 50(1) and (5) of the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), providers of systems meant to interact directly with people have to design that disclosure in; it must be clear, distinguishable, and accessible at the latest at the first interaction. A line in the T&Cs or a bot name that still sounds human is not enough. The narrow exception is only when the AI nature is obvious to a reasonably well-informed, observant person in that context — do not lean on it for a polished support chat. These transparency duties have applied since 2 August 2026, independent of high-risk classification. Practical check: open your returns or product-help chat as a first-time customer and confirm the first reply (or spoken line) plainly states they are interacting with an AI system.