Article 13 — Transparency and provision of information to deployers

AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689

What does AI Act Article 13 say?

Short answer, straight from the official text

1. High-risk AI systems shall be designed and developed in such a way as to ensure that their operation is sufficiently transparent to enable deployers to interpret a system’s output and use it appropriately.

Source: AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, read 2026-08-14.

In the act	EU 2024/1689
Chapter	III · High-risk AI systems
CELEX	32024R1689
Read on	2026-08-14

Official text

Read from the EU Publications Office for this CELEX number. The wording stands as published; nothing here is rewritten or summarised.

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1. High-risk AI systems shall be designed and developed in such a way as to ensure that their operation is sufficiently transparent to enable deployers to interpret a system’s output and use it appropriately. An appropriate type and degree of transparency shall be ensured with a view to achieving compliance with the relevant obligations of the provider and deployer set out in Section 3.
2. High-risk AI systems shall be accompanied by instructions for use in an appropriate digital format or otherwise that include concise, complete, correct and clear information that is relevant, accessible and comprehensible to deployers.
3. The instructions for use shall contain at least the following information:
(a) the identity and the contact details of the provider and, where applicable, of its authorised representative;
(b) the characteristics, capabilities and limitations of performance of the high-risk AI system, including:
(i) its intended purpose;
(ii) the level of accuracy, including its metrics, robustness and cybersecurity referred to in Article 15 against which the high-risk AI system has been tested and validated and which can be expected, and any known and foreseeable circumstances that may have an impact on that expected level of accuracy, robustness and cybersecurity;
(iii) any known or foreseeable circumstance, related to the use of the high-risk AI system in accordance with its intended purpose or under conditions of reasonably foreseeable misuse, which may lead to risks to the health and safety or fundamental rights referred to in Article 9(2);

The article continues in the official text.

Open the article on EUR-Lex

Decision guide

Who is affected?

Providers of high-risk AI systems, towards the deployers who use them. (Art. 13(1)–(2))

Questions and answers

What does transparency mean for high-risk systems? The system must be designed so that deployers can interpret its output and use it appropriately. (Art. 13(1))

Must instructions for use be supplied? Yes, in an appropriate digital format or otherwise, with concise, complete, correct and clear information that is relevant, accessible and comprehensible to deployers. (Art. 13(2))

What must the instructions contain? Among other things the provider's identity, the system's intended purpose, its level of accuracy, robustness and cybersecurity, known risks, human oversight measures, expected lifetime and logging mechanisms. (Art. 13(3))

Duties

Who	What	From
Provider	Supply instructions for use with the content listed in Article 13(3). (Art. 13(2)–(3))	2 December 2027 (Annex III systems); 2 August 2028 (Annex I systems)

Risk

Breach of provider obligations under Article 16, which include Article 13: fine up to EUR 15 million or 3 % of worldwide annual turnover. (Art. 99(4)(a))

Most common mistake

Confusing Article 13 with Article 50. Article 13 is information to the deployer; Article 50 is information to the people affected. (Art. 13 / 50)

Most common sanction

No published supervisory decision under this article yet. Fines under the AI Act can be imposed from 2 August 2025 (Art. 113).

Actions

Does this apply to us: only if we provide a high-risk system.
What must we do: write instructions for use covering each item in Article 13(3).
What does a mistake cost: up to EUR 15 million or 3 % of turnover.

Checked against the official text: 2026-10-12

The text is quoted from the official source and is not legal advice. A national court reads the language version that binds in its jurisdiction.

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