California requires disclosure of AI-generated 'synthetic performers' in advertising

Key takeaways

• Beginning January 1, 2027, California will make it unlawful to create and publish an advertisement that prominently features an AI-generated “synthetic performer” without a clear and conspicuous disclosure. California is the second state to adopt such a requirement, after New York, and its law is broader in several respects.
• The law covers audio, video, and audiovisual advertising, including audio-only spots with a synthetic voice, but only where an AI-generated performer creates a realistic impression of a human performance and plays a prominent role. Advertisements for films, video games, and other expressive works are exempt where the synthetic performer is used consistently with the underlying work.
• Violating the disclosure requirement also violates California’s False Advertising Law and may lead to enforcement under the Unfair Competition Law, including by private plaintiffs who can show lost money or property.
• Online platforms, broadcasters, and other “advertising media” need not screen advertisements, but once a court finds that an advertisement violates the law and the medium is served with the order, the medium must remove the advertisement in California and stop accepting payment for it.

California has enacted Senate Bill 1050, which adds a new article to the state’s False Advertising Law. The new law requires advertisers to disclose when an advertisement prominently includes a “synthetic performer,” which is defined as a realistic human figure or voice generated with generative AI that does not depict any identifiable real person. The disclosure requirements take effect on January 1, 2027.

The law follows New York’s synthetic performer disclosure requirement, which went into effect on June 9, 2026. California’s version goes further in ways that matter for national campaigns and, unlike New York’s, imposes obligations on the platforms that carry advertising. In this Legal Development, we highlight the key features of the law for advertisers and platforms.

What the law requires

It is unlawful for any person to create and cause to be published in an “advertising medium” an advertisement that “prominently includes a synthetic performer without a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the advertisement includes a synthetic performer.”

The required disclosure must use wording substantially similar to “this performance features a synthetic performer” or “no human performer is depicted.” To meet the “clear and conspicuous” standard, the disclosure must be “difficult to miss, easily understandable, and presented in a manner that a reasonable consumer would notice, read, and comprehend, taking into account the medium, format, and context in which the advertisement appears.” Placement and format of the disclosure are left to the advertiser, subject to that standard.

Who and what is covered

A “synthetic performer” is “a digital figure, voice, or representation created in whole or in part using generative artificial intelligence that creates the realistic impression of the audio, audiovisual, or visual performance of a human performer who is not recognizable as any identifiable natural person.” The limitation that a synthetic performer is not recognizable as an identifiable natural person, which also appears in New York’s law, is a key part of these statutes and distinguishes them from laws reaching deepfakes or celebrity impersonations.

Disclosure is required only when the synthetic performer is included “prominently,” meaning that the performer is (1) in the foreground and demonstrating or illustrating the product or service, (2) providing or voicing the on- or off-camera narration or commercial message, or (3) illustrating or reacting to the on- or off-camera narration or commercial message. Accordingly, a synthetic voice-over in an advertisement featuring human actors on screen could trigger the requirement, as could a synthetic figure that never speaks but visibly reacts to the pitch.

An “advertisement” is “any audio, video, or audiovisual message, statement, audiovisual recording, digital communication, or other representation” disseminated by any means, including through online platforms, that is intended or reasonably expected to induce the purchase of goods or services. Unlike New York’s law, which excludes audio advertisements, California’s law likely reaches radio, podcast, and streaming audio spots; an earlier version of the bill excluded them, and the California Legislature removed the exclusion. The law appears to be mostly aimed at audio and video advertising, and whether a static image of a synthetic performer could be a “visual performance” under the definition is not entirely clear.

Exemptions and limitations

The law does not apply to advertisements for expressive works, including motion pictures, television programs, streaming content, documentaries, and video games, as long as the synthetic performer is used in the advertisement consistently with its use in the work. A trailer featuring an AI-generated character from the game it promotes would appear to fall within the exemption; an advertisement for the same game or gaming subscription service fronted by an AI-generated spokesperson who does not appear in the game would not.

The law also does not apply where generative AI is used solely for language translation of a human performer or other accessibility features. It does not restrict the creation or distribution of synthetic content outside advertisements or regulate an advertisement’s content beyond requiring the disclosure.

Obligations of advertising platforms and other media

The law also imposes obligations on entities that qualify as an “advertising medium.” That term includes any “broadcast station, cable operator, multichannel video programming distributor, online platform, streaming service, digital advertising network, publisher, or other person or entity” that makes an audio or audiovisual advertisement available to consumers in California. An entity that is not capable of removing, disabling access to, or ceasing further dissemination of an advertisement is not considered an advertising medium.

Advertising media have no obligation to screen advertisements for undisclosed synthetic performers. Their obligation arises only when (1) a court has issued an order finding that an advertisement violates the False Advertising Law or enjoining its publication and (2) the medium is served with the order and information reasonably sufficient to identify the advertisement. Once served, the medium must, as soon as commercially reasonable and technically feasible, remove or disable access to the advertisement in California and cease accepting payment for its further dissemination.

Whether this obligation can be enforced against online platforms may raise questions under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which the California statute, unlike New York’s, does not address.

Broadcasters had asked the Legislature to limit distributor liability to cases of actual knowledge with notice and an opportunity to cure; the Legislature instead adopted the court-order approach, under which a medium has no obligation until it is served with a court order.

How is the law enforced?

A violation of the disclosure requirement “constitutes a violation of Section 17500,” the False Advertising Law, and may be enforced under the Unfair Competition Law. The law creates no new penalty, so the usual remedies apply: injunctions and restitution, and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation in actions brought by the attorney general and other state actors. Private plaintiffs may sue as well, but statutory damages are not available in private actions. There is no notice-and-cure period, and the statute itself contains no knowledge requirement.

How California compares with New York

New York’s synthetic performer law requires a person who produces or creates an advertisement to “conspicuously disclose” the presence of a synthetic performer where the person has actual knowledge of it. The laws differ in meaningful ways.

• Scope: New York excludes audio-only advertisements and reaches assets created using generative AI “or a software algorithm,” in any role; California includes audio but is limited to generative AI and to prominently featured performers that create a realistic impression.
• Knowledge standard: New York requires actual knowledge; California has no knowledge requirement.
• Disclosure standard: New York does not define “conspicuously” or prescribe wording; California does both.
• Enforcement: New York imposes fixed civil penalties with no apparent private right of action; California relies on its False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law, including private enforcement, and imposes the court-order takedown obligation on platforms.

Where both laws require a disclosure, wording that meets California’s standard should also satisfy New York’s. However, compliance in California does not ensure compliance in New York; New York may require disclosure in some circumstances not covered by California’s law, such as when the performer was created with software other than generative AI.

Looking ahead

Advertisers using or considering AI-generated figures or voices should use the period before January 1, 2027, to assess their exposure, including by inventorying current and planned advertising campaigns, settling on disclosure language for each format, and allocating responsibility in agency and vendor agreements. Advertising platforms should also consider how they would receive and act on a court order under the law. With New York’s law in effect and California’s taking effect in January, we expect others to follow in 2027, and advertisers should monitor developments in the states where their campaigns run.