This page and its legal references were last reviewed on 13 July 2026. Primary source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on EUR-Lex. For the practical side I also used the European Commission's material on the AI Act. For the GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on EUR-Lex.
The EU AI Act and restaurants: what Darly covers and what stays with you
When customers speak to an AI assistant, they generally need to be told that it is AI. Darly gives this notice at the start of every call. Under the AI Act's timetable, the transparency obligations in Article 50 apply from 2 August 2026 (Article 113). On data, one thing is fixed: it is processed in the EU, in line with the GDPR.
This page doesn't sell you reassurance in words.
It tells you what we know, what Darly covers and what remains to be assessed in your specific situation.
Want to hear how the disclosure sounds? Call the demo line: +39 379 3697960. Darly answers.
What is the AI Act and what changes for a restaurant?
The AI Act is Regulation (EU) 2024/1689. For a restaurant that uses an AI assistant on the phone, the practical point is transparency: the customer must be able to know when they are interacting with an AI system.
In short, Article 50 requires providers of AI systems intended to interact directly with natural persons to design them so that the person is informed they are interacting with an AI system, unless this is obvious to a reasonably well-informed and attentive person, taking into account the circumstances and context of use (full text: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024R1689, verified on 13 July 2026).
The European Commission's draft guidelines on Article 50 (May 2026) indicate that users of customer-facing assistants must be informed they are interacting with AI at the start of the interaction (European Commission, digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu — draft guidelines on Article 50, verified on 13 July 2026). The Article 50 text and its official reading are on the Commission's AI Act service desk (ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu/en/ai-act/article-50).
For a restaurateur, the point is concrete: if an AI answers the venue's phone, the call must not pretend to be handled by a person.
The dates that matter
For your case, the key date is 2 August 2026. Under the AI Act's timetable, the transparency obligations in Article 50 apply from that day (Article 113).
The dates below come from Article 113 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, verified on EUR-Lex on 13 July 2026:
| Date | What happens | What it means for a restaurant |
|---|---|---|
| 2 February 2025 | Chapters I and II apply, including prohibited AI practices | Not the main date for a phone assistant that discloses itself |
| 2 August 2025 | Some rules on governance and general-purpose AI models apply | A topic closer to technology providers than to the average restaurant |
| 2 August 2026 | General application, including the Article 50 transparency rules | This is the date to mark if you use an AI assistant that talks to customers |
| 2 August 2027 | Some rules on high-risk systems under Article 6(1) apply | Not the typical case of an AI answering the restaurant's phone |
In short: the AI Act is already in force, but for a restaurant with an AI assistant on the phone the date that matters is 2 August 2026, when the Article 50 transparency obligations apply (Article 113). The 2025 dates concern prohibited practices and general-purpose models; the 2027 one concerns high-risk systems. Source: Article 113 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, verified on EUR-Lex on 13 July 2026.
Penalties exist, so the date should be taken seriously. For obligations other than prohibited practices, the Regulation provides for penalties of up to €15 million or, if higher, 3% of total worldwide annual turnover (source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 99, verified on EUR-Lex on 13 July 2026). For SMEs, including start-ups, the lower of the percentage and the fixed amount applies, and penalties must take into account the economic viability of small enterprises.
I'm not writing this to scare you: the real mistake is to wait for August and scramble afterwards.
What Darly covers
Darly, as the AI system's provider, carries the provider-side transparency duty itself, and is designed to support the EU AI Act art. 50 and GDPR obligations that fall on your restaurant as the deployer. Your restaurant, as the deployer and as the controller of the guest data, remains responsible for its own choices. Concretely, Darly provides these controls:
- AI disclosure at the start of every call. Darly is designed so the customer knows they are speaking with an AI assistant, before the assistant asks the customer for any booking or personal details, without you having to build anything. The notice comes at the start of the call, and the disclosure script is configurable: you can hear it yourself on the demo line, at the foot of the page.
- Guest data processed in the EU, in line with the GDPR.
- Call logs and transcripts. Every call is logged, with transcripts available in your dashboard.
- Data Processing Agreement (DPA). We provide it, together with the sub-processor terms.
- Pre-drafted DPIA. The data protection impact assessment for the restaurant case is already set up: you get it from us, without starting from a blank sheet.
- Configurable retention. Data is kept for the period you decide; if you don't choose, a conservative default applies.
- Clear legal identity. Darly is a product of Openbase S.R.L., Via Borgo Bassano 25, 35013 Cittadella (PD), VAT no. IT05763920286.
- Human support. If you have operational questions, you can email us at support@darly.so.
These controls help you implement the transparency duties; they do not determine or guarantee compliance. Your restaurant remains responsible for its own configuration and use.
Darly covers Darly's part.
What stays with you
The restaurant, as the controller of the guest data, remains responsible for its own choices towards customers. Marketing pages usually skip this part. This one doesn't.
In practice, you, as the deployer, still need to manage with your adviser or privacy contact:
- your privacy notice to customers;
- the legal basis on which you process customer data;
- any use of contacts for marketing, newsletters or promotions.
Darly doesn't make these decisions for you. Darly gives you a product built not to hide the AI and to process data in the EU. The rest must be read within your specific situation.
GDPR and where the data lives
GDPR here means Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The official text describes it as the regulation on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679, verified on 13 July 2026).
Darly's answer stays simple: the data is processed in the EU, in line with the GDPR.
For the full documents, these are the right pages:
- /privacy for the general notice;
- /guest-privacy for end-customer data;
- /termini for the service.
This page explains them in practical terms. Those remain the legal pages to read.
Real questions
Do I have to tell my customers that an AI answers the phone?
Yes: the point of Article 50 of the AI Act is that the person knows when they are interacting directly with an AI system. Darly has the disclosure ready for this obligation, and the Article 50 transparency obligations apply from 2 August 2026. The source is Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, verified on EUR-Lex on 13 July 2026.
Does Darly guarantee my whole restaurant is compliant?
No. Darly can't guarantee the overall compliance of your restaurant, because part of it depends on how you, as the controller, process your customers' data, what you write in your privacy notice and how you use those contacts. These controls help you implement the transparency duties; they do not determine or guarantee compliance. Darly covers Darly's part: AI Act disclosure ready and guest data processed in the EU in line with the GDPR.
Does my customers' data end up outside Europe?
No: the data Darly handles for your restaurant, such as calls, bookings and contacts, is processed in the EU, in line with the GDPR. The relevant legal text is Regulation (EU) 2016/679, verified on EUR-Lex on 13 July 2026. For the operational detail you should read /privacy and /guest-privacy.
Do I need a DPIA for an AI voice assistant in the restaurant?
The DPIA is the data protection impact assessment required by the GDPR: it's needed when processing may present a high risk to people's rights, and it must be assessed case by case. For the typical case of an assistant that handles bookings, Darly provides you with a pre-drafted DPIA for the restaurant case: you don't start from a blank sheet, you adapt it to your situation with your adviser.
Is recording the restaurant's calls legal?
It depends on how you process the data and what you state in your privacy notice: that assessment stays yours, with your adviser. What Darly covers is its part: the customer is told at the start of the call that they are speaking with an AI assistant, the data is processed in the EU in line with the GDPR and retention is configurable, with a conservative default. The detail on what is processed and for how long is in /privacy and /guest-privacy.
What happens if I wait until after 2 August 2026?
Waiting means arriving at that date with an open question: does the customer understand or not that they're speaking with an AI? Penalties for obligations other than prohibited practices can reach up to €15 million or, if higher, 3% of total worldwide annual turnover (source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 99, verified on EUR-Lex on 13 July 2026). For SMEs, including start-ups, specific rules apply on the lower cap and on economic viability. No panic: it's just a good reason to choose, in good time, an AI assistant that doesn't hide being AI.
An honest limit
This page explains how Darly is built with respect to the AI Act and the GDPR and which facts we can state today. This page is not legal advice: your venue's situation may have specific aspects, and for those the reference remains an adviser, a lawyer or your privacy contact. The dates and legal references are linked to the official sources.
Want to hear how the disclosure sounds?
Call the demo line +39 379 3697960, as if you were a customer. Darly answers.
If instead you want to see whether it makes sense for your venue, book a demo at /en/demo. The trial is 14 days, no card and no automatic charge at the end of the trial.
Last reviewed: 13 July 2026 · Report issues: support@darly.so