California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1050 on 16 September, requiring a clear, conspicuous disclosure when an audio, video or audiovisual advertisement uses an artificial-intelligence-generated performer to sell a product or service. The signing took place at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles, with State Senator Angelique Ashby, the bill’s author.

The law defines a “synthetic performer” as a figure, voice or representation created wholly or partly with generative AI that gives the realistic impression of a human performance without being recognisable as an identifiable natural person. The duty applies when that figure has a prominent role in the advertisement, not to every generated illustration.

The text does not ban AI advertising. It makes the use of synthetic performers subject to transparency. Advertisements found in violation may not continue to be used. A distribution medium is not required to block all synthetic content on its own initiative; it must stop an advertisement after a notified court order, on the terms set out in the statute.

The measure takes effect on 1 January 2027. It sits alongside California rules on digital replicas, labelled content and detection tools. New York already has a similar requirement for synthetic performers in advertising. SAG-AFTRA sponsored the bill as protection for creative workers and for consumers.

Enforcement will depend on the definitions, the form of the notice and oversight. Not every clip with generated effects falls under the law; the threshold is a realistic, prominent performer used to sell. Presenting SB 1050 as a general ban on artificial intelligence in ads misstates the act.

For agencies and platforms, the run-up to 2027 is time to align: a label, an archive of versions and procedures for when a court identifies a non-compliant advertisement. The law adds advertising to California’s existing false-advertising tools rather than inventing a separate criminal regime for every generated frame.

Image: Gavin Newsom, 2024 press conference / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not the SAG-AFTRA signing. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Governor Newsom signs new law on AI-generated advertising | Governor of California; SB-1050 False advertising: synthetic performers | California Legislature.