California False Advertising: Synthetic Performers Act (SB 1050)

Properties

jurisdiction: US, California
level: state
domain: transparency
status: enacted-pending
scope: Adds Article 10 to the Business and Professions Code requiring disclosure when an advertisement features an AI-generated 'synthetic performer' in a prominent role, enforced through California's existing false-advertising framework.
obligations: Any audio, video, or audiovisual advertisement featuring a synthetic performer (an AI-generated figure, voice, or representation creating a realistic impression of a human performance but depicting no identifiable real person) in a prominent role, such as demonstrating a product, delivering the primary commercial message, or serving as a testimonial, must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure. Enforcement proceeds through California's existing false-advertising statute; platforms reportedly must stop distributing an ad once a court order deems it unlawful.
effectiveDate: 2027-01-01
enactedDate: 2026-09-16
appliesTo: advertisers and platforms distributing advertisements reaching California consumers that feature a synthetic performer
officialUrl: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1050
notes: Signed by Governor Newsom on September 16, 2026 as Chapter 246, Statutes of 2026 (title quote confirmed directly on the bill's official leginfo status page). The January 1, 2027 effective date, the disclosure-trigger conditions, and the enforcement mechanism are drawn from secondary legal/news coverage (Gadget Review, Contentgrip); this agent's own attempts to fetch the full leginfo bill text timed out and could not independently re-confirm this language this round. Distinct from the already-tracked ny-synthetic-performer-disclosure (New York's own, separate statute on the same subject) and from ca-sb942/ca-ab853 (California's generative-AI content-detection-tool and manifest/latent-disclosure law, which is not advertising-specific): this is California's own advertising-specific synthetic-performer disclosure statute. VALIDATOR NOTE (2026-09-19): independently re-confirmed via leginfo billStatusClient that SB 1050 was chaptered as Chapter 246, Statutes of 2026, approved by the Governor on 09/16/26, with the exact act-title quote reproduced above matching the officialUrl page. The obligations field has been edited to remove an inline secondary-sourcing caveat (moved here).

Properties

jurisdiction

US, California

level

state

domain

transparency

status

enacted-pending

scope

Adds Article 10 to the Business and Professions Code requiring disclosure when an advertisement features an AI-generated 'synthetic performer' in a prominent role, enforced through California's existing false-advertising framework.

obligations

Any audio, video, or audiovisual advertisement featuring a synthetic performer (an AI-generated figure, voice, or representation creating a realistic impression of a human performance but depicting no identifiable real person) in a prominent role, such as demonstrating a product, delivering the primary commercial message, or serving as a testimonial, must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure. Enforcement proceeds through California's existing false-advertising statute; platforms reportedly must stop distributing an ad once a court order deems it unlawful.

effectiveDate

2027-01-01

enactedDate

2026-09-16

appliesTo

advertisers and platforms distributing advertisements reaching California consumers that feature a synthetic performer

officialUrl

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1050

notes

Signed by Governor Newsom on September 16, 2026 as Chapter 246, Statutes of 2026 (title quote confirmed directly on the bill's official leginfo status page). The January 1, 2027 effective date, the disclosure-trigger conditions, and the enforcement mechanism are drawn from secondary legal/news coverage (Gadget Review, Contentgrip); this agent's own attempts to fetch the full leginfo bill text timed out and could not independently re-confirm this language this round. Distinct from the already-tracked ny-synthetic-performer-disclosure (New York's own, separate statute on the same subject) and from ca-sb942/ca-ab853 (California's generative-AI content-detection-tool and manifest/latent-disclosure law, which is not advertising-specific): this is California's own advertising-specific synthetic-performer disclosure statute. VALIDATOR NOTE (2026-09-19): independently re-confirmed via leginfo billStatusClient that SB 1050 was chaptered as Chapter 246, Statutes of 2026, approved by the Governor on 09/16/26, with the exact act-title quote reproduced above matching the officialUrl page. The obligations field has been edited to remove an inline secondary-sourcing caveat (moved here).