New York and California require synthetic performer ad disclosures

Anyone who makes an ad with an AI-generated performer has to label it in New York, and will have to label it in California from January 1, 2027. New York's synthetic performer disclosure law took effect on June 9, 2026. California's SB 1050, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed on September 16, 2026, adds the second state rule. Both start from the same premise: a viewer should know when the person selling them something is not a person. Almost every detail after that differs.

New York wrote its rule as an amendment to General Business Law section 396-b, which already governed advertising. California wrote a new article into its Business and Professions Code, Article 10, starting at section 17610. For a creator running ads in both states, the result is two different labels, two different triggers, and two different sets of penalties.

What counts as a synthetic performer

Each state defines the term, and the definitions do not line up.

New York calls a synthetic performer "a digitally created asset created, reproduced, or modified by computer, using generative artificial intelligence or a software algorithm, that is intended to create the impression that the asset is engaging in an audiovisual and/or visual performance of a human performer who is not recognizable as any identifiable natural performer."

California's version 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."

Three differences matter. California names voice outright; New York's word "asset" can reach a synthetic voice too, according to the law firm Ropes & Gray, which adds that the New York term may cover isolated human features used in an ad. California requires generative AI; New York also accepts "a software algorithm," which the law firm McDermott Will & Schulte says could pull in some traditional visual effects work. Both laws exclude any performer a viewer can recognize as a real person, because an AI replica of a real person raises a separate set of right-of-publicity problems rather than this disclosure duty.

What the disclosure has to say

This is the difference that decides how a national campaign gets built.

California fixes the words. A covered ad has to carry a disclosure "substantially similar" to "this performance features a synthetic performer" or "no human performer is depicted." That language sits in the statute itself, not in guidance.

New York fixes nothing. The law requires the advertiser to "conspicuously disclose in such advertisement that a synthetic performer is in such advertisement," and stops there. It does not define "conspicuous," does not prescribe wording, and does not set placement rules. McDermott flags the gap and points advertisers to the Federal Trade Commission's "clear and conspicuous" standard as a practical benchmark.

McDermott's advice to companies running in both states is to adopt California's wording as the baseline everywhere, since it should also satisfy New York's looser standard. No formulation is a guaranteed safe harbor until a court or the New York attorney general says otherwise.

Which ads are covered and which are exempt

New York covers any advertisement, in any medium, once the advertiser knows a synthetic performer is in it. There is no prominence threshold. A synthetic performer in the background of a spot is still a trigger.

California sets a higher bar. The synthetic performer has to be "prominently" featured, which the statute defines as being in the foreground and demonstrating the product, voicing the on- or off-camera narration, or illustrating or reacting to that narration. An AI figure in the corner of the frame can sit outside the duty in California while still triggering it in New York.

Both states carve out the same two things, and the carve-outs are narrow. Ads and promotional materials for expressive works, including motion pictures, television programs, streaming content, documentaries and video games, are exempt as long as the synthetic performer is used in the ad the same way it appears in the work being promoted. And AI used solely to translate a human performer's language is exempt. California adds accessibility features to that second carve-out.

Audio is where the two laws split hardest. New York exempts audio advertisements outright. California covers audio, including synthetic voices, so a radio spot or a podcast read built on an AI voice can require a disclosure in California after January 1, 2027 and none in New York.

The platform rules differ too. New York exempts the mediums that carry ads, including newspapers, magazines, television networks, streaming services, billboards and transit advertising. California instead puts a duty on "advertising media": once a court finds an ad violates the law and the medium is served with the order, the medium has to remove the ad, stop further dissemination in the state, and stop accepting payment for it.

Who carries the duty and what it costs to get it wrong

In New York the duty lands on the person "engaged in the business of dealing in any property or service who for any commercial purpose produces or creates an advertisement," and it applies only when that person has actual knowledge a synthetic performer is in the ad. The statute does not create a private right of action, so enforcement is expected to come from the New York attorney general, according to both McDermott and Revision Legal. The penalties are civil: $1,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for each violation after that.

California drops the knowledge requirement. McDermott notes the statute has no express knowledge trigger, so a creator cannot lean on not knowing. A violation is treated as a violation of California's false advertising law, section 17500, and can be enforced under the state's Unfair Competition Law. McDermott's comparison of the two laws lists civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation, plus injunctions, restitution, and potential misdemeanor liability. The bill's own digest notes that existing California law already makes false or misleading advertising a misdemeanor.

A missing disclosure can also draw attention outside these two statutes. Revision Legal points out that an ad leading consumers to believe a real customer or a real professional is speaking can be a deceptive practice under state consumer protection law and the FTC Act.

What a creator should do now

The compliance steps the two states imply are short.

Adopt California's wording across campaigns. It is the stricter standard and should satisfy New York too.

Disclose any appearance of a synthetic performer, not just a prominent one, so a single cut works in both states.

Review audio separately. A synthetic voice in a podcast or radio spot needs a label in California and not in New York.

Because New York turns on actual knowledge, put the question in writing. Revision Legal recommends requiring agencies, production companies and AI vendors to confirm in writing when a deliverable includes a synthetic performer, and keeping records of which tools made each asset.

For video, Revision Legal suggests an on-screen label while the synthetic performer is visible, sized and held long enough to read, with a voice-over line making it stronger.

New York's law came first, and other states have enacted similar rules, Ropes & Gray notes. Pending New York legislation, Assembly Bill A11683, would drop the requirement that the performer be unrecognizable, which would pull deepfakes of real people into the disclosure duty and widen the law past its current reach. California's rule does not start until January 1, 2027, and no New York attorney general guidance or enforcement action had been published as of late summer 2026, according to Revision Legal.

If you run ads in both states, write the California wording into your templates now and treat every synthetic human on screen as a label trigger.