California companies must now disclose when they use artificial intelligence-generated actors in advertisements, under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wednesday. The legislation, Senate Bill 1050, adds AI performers to the state's list of deceptive marketing practices, making violations a misdemeanor offense.
State Sen. Angelique Ashby, a Sacramento Democrat and the bill's sponsor, cast the measure as a victory for Hollywood workers. The law requires synthetic figures to be explicitly labeled and bars AI from replacing real performers, Ashby said.
Newsom signed SB 1050 at the Los Angeles headquarters of the SAG-AFTRA union. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's national executive director and chief negotiator, said SAG-AFTRA helped craft the bill's language. The requirement gives consumers clarity about when they are seeing synthetic performers instead of humans, Crabtree-Ireland said.
The move follows a broader push by Hollywood talent for AI safeguards. Last year, actors including Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo lobbied Newsom for guardrails on the technology. Those earlier measures required AI companies to adopt security protocols and report safety incidents to the state.
Newsom has signed several AI bills in recent years and issued an executive order to address the economic impact of artificial intelligence on workers and small businesses. He also signed a law establishing a framework for third-party AI auditors.
"Californians deserve to know when the person selling them something isn't a person at all," Newsom said in a statement, acknowledging public anxieties about AI's potential to displace entire industries including Hollywood.
The state will also launch a "Future of Creative Industries Pilot Program" through the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. The program aims to prepare Hollywood workers for AI's impact through curriculum and training models developed in consultation with industry employers, labor unions and technology companies including Adobe.
