California Joins New York in Requiring Disclosures in Advertisements Featuring “Synthetic Performers”

On September 16, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB-1050 into law, creating compliance obligations for entities employing advertisements that feature “digital figure[s], voice[s], or representation[s] created in whole or in part using generative artificial intelligence,” also known as a “synthetic performer.” These obligations, going into effect on January 1, 2027, closely resemble those imposed by New York. Companies that plan on using fully AI-generated humans in their advertisements should consider evaluating the applicability of these laws and which of their advertising materials warrant applying an AI disclosure, such as “this performance features a synthetic performer” or “no human performer is depicted.”

Who is Bound by SB-1050?

SB-1050 creates obligations for those “[who] create and cause to be published” an advertisement that “prominently includes a synthetic performer” (emphasis added). An advertisement only meets this threshold if the synthetic performer is either “in the foreground and demonstrating or illustrating the product or service;” “providing or voicing the . . . narration or commercial message;” or “illustrating or reacting to the . . . narration or commercial message.” Thus, synthetic performers used in the background and less prominently displayed in advertisements may avoid triggering obligations under SB-1050.

Additionally, SB-1050 creates obligations for “advertising mediums,” meaning “any broadcast station, cable operator, multichannel video programming distributor, online platform, streaming service, digital advertising network, publisher, or other person or entity that distributes, displays, transmits, or makes available an audio or audiovisual advertisement to consumers in [California].”

What Requirements Does SB-1050 Impose?

Disclosures required by SB-1050 must be “clear and conspicuous,” meaning they must be “difficult to miss, easily understandable, and presented in a manner that a reasonable consumer would notice, read, and comprehend. . . .” Likewise, the disclosure must contain language substantially similar to “this performance features a synthetic performer” or “no human performer is depicted” to comply with SB-1050.

SB-1050 requires “advertising mediums” to take down ads that violate this law if (1) a court has issued an order finding the ad violates SB-1050; and (2) the advertising medium has been served with an order that contains information “reasonably sufficient” to identify the advertisement.

A violation of SB-1050 may be treated as a violation of California’s False Advertising Law and enforced under its Unfair Competition Law, which has a private cause of action. SB-1050 does not provide its own civil penalties but applies the remedies under these consumer protection laws.

How Does SB-1050 Compare to Current Synthetic Performer Legislation and Regulation?

By passing SB-1050, California joins New York in creating obligations for businesses that use synthetic performers in advertisements. Several key differences exist between these statutes:

• Role of the Synthetic Performer in the Advertisement. Unlike California, New York’s law lacks the “prominently features” carve out described above, instead it broadly imposes disclosure obligations in advertisements featuring synthetic performers, regardless of their role (provided the entity employing the advertisement has actual knowledge). New York also does not provide the language advertisers should use for the synthetic performer disclosure.
• Liability for Advertising Mediums/Platforms. New York creates no obligations for advertising platforms/mediums to remove synthetic performer advertisements created in violation of its law.
• Applicability to Audio-Only Advertisements. California’s definition of “advertisement” includes “audio, visual, and audiovisual” ads, whereas New York’s statute merely applies to “audiovisual and/or visual performance[s]” and excludes audio-only advertisements from the scope of its law.

Are There Similar Obligations Under the EU AI Act?

Unlike the above-described California and New York synthetic performer laws, which require including disclosures if a fully-invented AI human is generated for advertisements, Article 50(4) of the EU AI Act has disclosure obligations if the AI-generated image, audio or video content constitutes a “deep fake.” To be a deep fake, Article 3(60) of the EU AI Act requires the AI-generated content to resemble “existing persons, objects, places, entities or events” that “falsely appear to a person to be authentic or truthful,” as opposed to a synthetic person. As described in our prior Legal Update, recent European Commission guidelines shed light on the meaning of a deep fake and the circumstances where a disclosure is necessary.