European retail association EuroCommerce has urged EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen to exclude some AI-generated advertisements from new EU disclosure rules.

In a letter seen by Reuters, EuroCommerce director general Christel Delberghe said AI-generated advertisements that are not meant to deceive users should fall outside the regulation’s definition of a deepfake.

The appeal relates to the EU AI Act, with its transparency rules set to apply from 2 August and bringing compulsory disclosure requirements for certain AI-generated and AI-modified content.

The law requires companies to clearly label content where AI has been used to generate or modify images, video or audio that qualifies as a deepfake.

According to the letter, the rules should not apply to AI-generated advertisements “not intended to mislead users, for example, generating an image of a living room to showcase a sofa, or enhancing product visuals for presentation purposes”.

Retailers are already using AI-generated marketing material extensively.

German online retailer Zalando has said the technology helped it cut content production costs by 90% while H&M and Zara are using AI-generated clones of models.

Delberghe said requiring disclosures for AI-edited or AI-generated advertisements could mean retailers must label “a very large share of AI-assisted content”, which could weaken the value of those disclosures for consumers.

The move comes as European retailers increase investment in AI to improve efficiency, manage costs and respond to changing consumer behaviour.

Earlier this month, McKinsey & Company said in a new analysis that AI in European retail is moving from small-scale pilots to broader operational use in core business areas such as pricing, forecasting and customer engagement.

Its report, 'Rewiring retail in Europe: the AI imperative', said the sector is facing thin margins, uneven demand across markets and rising operational complexity.