Washington HB 1170 (AI-Generated Content Provenance and Disclosure Act)

Properties

jurisdiction: Washington
level: state
domain: transparency
status: enacted-pending
scope: Requires 'covered providers' (entities producing generative AI systems with over one million monthly users, publicly accessible in Washington for personal use) to embed provenance data (e.g., watermarking or metadata) into video, image, or audio content their systems create or materially alter, and to offer users an optional manifest disclosure marking content as AI-generated.
obligations: Offer users an option to include a manifest disclosure (visible label) in image, video, or audio content created or materially altered by the AI system, clearly and conspicuously identifying it as AI-generated, that is permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove; automatically embed a latent (hidden) disclosure/detection marker in such content; and provide a free public tool allowing users to check whether content was created or altered by the provider's system. Exact required metadata fields (e.g., system name, version, timestamp) were not independently confirmed against full bill text.
effectiveDate: 2027-02-01
enactedDate: 2026-03-24
penalties: Enforced through the Washington Consumer Protection Act (RCW 19.86): for actions brought by the Attorney General a violation is an unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce, and only the Attorney General may bring a CPA action under the chapter (no private right of action). No bespoke penalty schedule.
appliesTo: Generative-AI system providers with over one million monthly users whose systems are publicly accessible in Washington
officialUrl: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2025&BillNumber=1170
notes: Enacted as Chapter 167, 2026 Laws (E2SHB 1170): approved by the Governor March 24, 2026 and filed with the Secretary of State March 25, 2026 (CORRECTION 2026-10-25: enactedDate was 2026-03-26). Session law Sec. 9: 'This act takes effect February 1, 2027.' The previous officialUrl pointed at the introduced bill text; it now points at the official bill summary page, with the session law at https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/1170-S2.SL.pdf. Domain detail: generative-AI content provenance / synthetic media transparency.

Properties

jurisdiction

Washington

level

state

domain

transparency

status

enacted-pending

scope

Requires 'covered providers' (entities producing generative AI systems with over one million monthly users, publicly accessible in Washington for personal use) to embed provenance data (e.g., watermarking or metadata) into video, image, or audio content their systems create or materially alter, and to offer users an optional manifest disclosure marking content as AI-generated.

obligations

Offer users an option to include a manifest disclosure (visible label) in image, video, or audio content created or materially altered by the AI system, clearly and conspicuously identifying it as AI-generated, that is permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove; automatically embed a latent (hidden) disclosure/detection marker in such content; and provide a free public tool allowing users to check whether content was created or altered by the provider's system. Exact required metadata fields (e.g., system name, version, timestamp) were not independently confirmed against full bill text.

effectiveDate

2027-02-01

enactedDate

2026-03-24

penalties

Enforced through the Washington Consumer Protection Act (RCW 19.86): for actions brought by the Attorney General a violation is an unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce, and only the Attorney General may bring a CPA action under the chapter (no private right of action). No bespoke penalty schedule.

appliesTo

Generative-AI system providers with over one million monthly users whose systems are publicly accessible in Washington

officialUrl

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2025&BillNumber=1170

notes

Enacted as Chapter 167, 2026 Laws (E2SHB 1170): approved by the Governor March 24, 2026 and filed with the Secretary of State March 25, 2026 (CORRECTION 2026-10-25: enactedDate was 2026-03-26). Session law Sec. 9: 'This act takes effect February 1, 2027.' The previous officialUrl pointed at the introduced bill text; it now points at the official bill summary page, with the session law at https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/1170-S2.SL.pdf. Domain detail: generative-AI content provenance / synthetic media transparency.