- Governor Gavin Newsom made California the second state (after New York) to require disclosure of the use of synthetic performers in advertising when he signed SB 1050 on September 16. The law requires a “clear and conspicuous” disclosure whenever an advertisement “prominently” includes a performance by a “synthetic performer.” The law, chaptered as Bus. & Prof. Code § 17610, goes into effect immediately.
- Under the law, a “synthetic performer” is any “digital figure, voice, or representation created in whole or in part using generative artificial intelligence” where the figure, voice, or representation creates a “realistic impression” of a “human performer who is not recognizable as any identifiable natural person.” Such a performer appears “prominently” when used “in the foreground and demonstrating or illustrating” a product or service, when providing a “narration or commercial message,” or when “illustrating or reacting to” the “narration or commercial message.” Advertisers must disclose their use of generative AI to produce a prominent performance with language “substantially similar to ‘this performance features a synthetic performer’ or ‘no human performer is depicted.’”
- Failing to include the required disclosure constitutes a violation of California’s False Advertising Law, Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500, et seq. A private right of action for enforcement likely exists under California’s Unfair Competition Law, Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.
- The law also requires advertising media to cease transmission of any advertisements determined by a court to have violated the law once the media are served with a copy of the order making the determination.
- Keller and Heckman will continue to report on legislative developments regulating the creation and dissemination of advertising, whether using generative artificial intelligence or otherwise.