This article is about California’s artificial intelligence advertising disclosure laws and a recent enacted law. A realistic spokesperson can now appear in a commercial without ever entering a recording studio. For a business commissioning that advertisement, the legal review should begin before the campaign launches. California has enacted a disclosure law addressing synthetic performers and advertisers should examine how their creative teams generate the people and voices appearing in promotional content.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1050 on September 16, 2026. The law adds Business and Professions Code section 17610 and takes effect on January 1, 2027. It requires a person who creates and causes publication of a covered advertisement with prominent synthetic performers to provide the required disclosure. Businesses preparing AI-generated advertising for California audiences should use the remaining preparation period to review campaigns, disclosure practices, and agency agreements.
Which Synthetic Performers Are Covered
Section 17610 covers realistic human performances created wholly or partly through generative AI when the performer is not recognizable as an identifiable real person. Prominent uses include foreground product demonstrations or illustrations, narration or commercial messaging, and illustrating or reacting to that message. A realistic AI voice can qualify without an on-screen presenter.
Consider an online retailer using an invented, lifelike presenter to explain a subscription service. The retailer should identify how the presenter was generated and what consumers will understand from the finished advertisement. A vendor’s avatar label does not resolve coverage.
Replicas recognizable as actual people require separate consent and publicity-rights analysis, including under Civil Code section 3344. Falling outside SB 1050’s synthetic-performer definition does not establish that an advertisement is lawful.
How to Disclose AI Generated Performers
The statute requires a clear and conspicuous disclosure and wording substantially similar to “this performance features a synthetic performer” or “no human performer is depicted.” Presentation must suit the advertisement’s medium and context. Choose wording that accurately describes any combination of real and synthetic performers.
Test disclosures on actual viewing and listening devices. Check readability, audio clarity, and whether viewers have time to understand the notice. These are practical review measures; the statute does not prescribe a fixed font size or duration.
Check whether platform controls, cropping, or captions obscure the disclosure. Save distributed versions alongside approved masters to identify any changes introduced during editing or placement.
Exceptions That Require Careful Review
Exceptions cover AI used solely for translation of a human performer or accessibility, and promotions for expressive works, such as films or video games, when the synthetic performance is consistent with its use in the work.
A company relying on an exception should document its reasoning before release. Ask the production team to explain what the software changed and retain the original recording where appropriate. An unsupported assurance that a campaign is exempt provides little help when the finished advertisement raises questions.
Synthetic Performers and False Testimonials
Advertisers must separately examine the truth of the message. The Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, 16 C.F.R. part 465, addresses fake or false testimonials. FTC staff guidance explains that AI avatars are not categorically prohibited, but their use can violate the rule when an underlying testimonial is fake or false. An advertisement may also be deceptive under the FTC Act.
For example, an invented customer describing personal results from a product raises different concerns from a clearly fictional presenter explaining verified product features. Labeling the performer as synthetic does not establish that the claimed customer experience actually occurred.
Businesses should retain support for product claims and verify the source of any testimonial script. Marketing teams also should distinguish a genuine customer’s authorized account from copy that merely sounds like customer feedback. Counsel should assess the advertisement’s overall impression, including what its visuals and narration imply.
Enforcement and Campaign Disruption
Section 17610(f) makes a violation actionable as false advertising under section 17500 and permits enforcement under section 17200 et seq. Covered distributors served with a court order finding a violation or enjoining publication, plus sufficient identifying information, must remove, disable, or stop distributing the ad in California and stop accepting payment for further distribution as soon as commercially reasonable and technically feasible.
Potential remedies include injunctions and restitution, with civil penalties available in authorized government enforcement actions. Private unfair-competition claimants must establish injury in fact and resulting loss of money or property. Businesses should assign responsibility for responding to legal notices and suspending campaigns.
Preparing Your Business for January 1, 2027
Begin with a campaign inventory: Identify the advertisements scheduled to run on or after January 1, 2027, including older material that remains in rotation. Ask marketing personnel and outside vendors which assets contain generated faces, voices, or performances. Record the distribution channels and the person responsible for each campaign.
Revise creative briefs and approval procedures: Require vendors to identify synthetic performers before the business approves an advertisement. Assign responsibility for reviewing both the disclosure and the underlying sales claims. Recheck shortened clips, translated versions, and alternate formats because editing can change the message consumers receive.
Review agency and production agreements: Address permission to use AI, documentation of commercial-use rights, approval of subcontractors, and responsibility for correcting or withdrawing problematic content. Indemnification and insurance provisions deserve attention, but the company should also have practical access to editable files and the ability to stop publication promptly.
Preserve the compliance record: Keep scripts, final advertisements, disclosure language, vendor explanations, and written approvals under an appropriate retention policy. Train staff to escalate uncertain cases before spending money on distribution. Periodically sample live advertisements to confirm that the approved version is actually running.
Legal Guidance for California AI Advertising
Our law firm advises businesses on artificial intelligence, internet law, technology contracts, and regulatory compliance. Our legal and technology experts can evaluate proposed advertising, review vendor agreements, and help develop procedures suited to your business. To discuss California AI advertising disclosure requirements, contact our law firm to schedule a free initial consultation. Please visit the law firm’s website at www.atrizadeh.com for more information.
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