New York has enacted a law requiring disclosures when certain commercial advertisements include digitally created synthetic performers, including performers generated using Artificial Intelligence or other software algorithms. The measure targets advertisements that use computer-created, reproduced, or modified digital assets intended to appear as non-identifiable human performers in audiovisual or visual performances. Companies using generative Artificial Intelligence tools in marketing, advertising, content creation, and commercial production should evaluate whether existing practices might trigger the law’s disclosure requirements.
The disclosure requirements become effective on June 9, 2026, and are codified at N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 396-b. Failure to comply with the statute’s disclosure requirements carries civil penalties of $1,000 for the first violation and $5,000 for subsequent violations. The law does not expressly provide a private right of action, suggesting enforcement would likely rest with the New York attorney general or another state enforcement authority.
The statute requires a person engaged in the business of dealing in property or services to conspicuously disclose when a commercial advertisement contains a synthetic performer if the person has actual knowledge that the synthetic performer is included. The law does not define “conspicuously,” prescribe specific disclosure language, set placement rules, or establish format-specific standards. Advertisers may look to the Federal Trade Commission’s “clear and conspicuous” standard as a practical benchmark, including disclosures that are close to the relevant claim, prominent enough for consumers to notice and understand, and not hidden in fine print or behind hyperlinks.
Several exemptions narrow the law’s reach. Promotional materials for expressive works such as motion pictures, television programs, streaming content, documentaries, and video games are excluded when the synthetic performer’s use is consistent with the expressive work. Audio-only advertisements are also excluded, as are uses of Artificial Intelligence tools solely to translate the language of a human performer. Publishers, including newspapers, magazines, television networks, streaming services, billboards, and transit advertisements, are excluded when they merely disseminate an allegedly noncompliant advertisement, while the statute preserves the role of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Businesses that create, commission, or deploy Artificial Intelligence-generated advertising should inventory campaigns using human-like digital performers or avatars, review agency and vendor relationships, update advertising review procedures, and maintain records tied to vendor disclosures and internal reviews. The law is not limited to television commercials and may apply across digital advertising, social media campaigns, online video, sponsored content, streaming ads, and other commercial marketing materials.
