The EU doesn't really know what a deepfake is, and that's becoming a problem for retail
90% of Zalando's marketing is AI-generated. The EU AI Act has no answer.
Why it matters
The EU AI Act's transparency rules are colliding with retail's AI-generated content reality. A major trade association is now pushing for exemptions, exposing a critical definitional gap between 'deepfakes' (synthetic media meant to deceive) and legitimate commercial AI use—and regulatory ambiguity is forcing the outcome.
The key facts
5 to knowEurocommerce (Amazon, H&M, IKEA) seeks AI-generated ad exemption from EU AI Act transparency rules
Zalando reports 90% of marketing content on platform is AI-generated
Core tension: EU AI Act lacks clear distinction between harmful deepfakes and commercial synthetic media
Retail sector facing regulatory pressure on AI-generated product images and marketing materials
Published June 2026 (future date — potential data issue)
Go to the source
The Decoderthe-decoder.com
Publisher excerpt: Eurocommerce, the trade association behind Amazon, H&M, and IKEA, wants AI-generated ads exempt from the EU AI Act's transparency rules. The argument: an AI-generated living room image used to sell a sofa isn't a deepfake. Zalando alone says 90 percent of the marketing content on its platform is…