New York’s Synthetic Performer Disclosure Law: A Guide to the Nation’s First AI Advertising Rule
New York now requires businesses to disclose when an advertisement features a digitally-generated human.
By: Katarina Neumann
In December 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S8420A, making New York the first state to mandate disclosure when a commercial advertisement features an AI-generated human. Codified at New York General Business Law Section 396-b and effective since June 9, 2026, the law applies to any advertisement distributed in the state. For businesses producing advertising content that incorporates generative AI, the statute creates immediate compliance obligations, though several of its provisions remain open to interpretation.
What the Law Requires
The core obligation appears simple: tell consumers when your model is AI-generated. The law’s text requires any business that creates or produces a commercial advertisement to conspicuously disclose when that advertisement features a “synthetic performer,” which the statute defines as a digitally generated human figure, created using generative AI or a software algorithm, that is intended to appear as a real person but is not based on any identifiable individual (such as a celebrity). The disclosure requirement functions as a transparency label for AI-created people in advertising.
Several boundaries are worth noting. The law covers only AI-generated humans; digitally created backgrounds, products, and scenery do not trigger the disclosure requirement. Deepfakes of real, identifiable people fall outside the statute’s scope entirely, as those are addressed under separate New York privacy laws (Civil Rights Law Sections 50, 50-f, and 51), as well as state right of publicity statutes for celebrities. The focus here is on wholly fictional digital humans.
Who Must Comply
The statute’s reach is broad. It captures virtually any business that advertises in New York, regardless of where the company is headquartered. If an advertisement containing a synthetic performer reaches New York consumers, the disclosure obligation applies. Media platforms and publishers that merely disseminate advertisements created by others are expressly excluded; responsibility rests with the advertiser.
Interpretive Gray Areas
The statute’s objectives are clear enough, but several provisions raise significant interpretive questions that neither courts nor regulators have addressed. Contributing to this uncertainty is the absence of any major active litigation directly challenging the law since it took effect in June 2026, which has left its contours untested (for now). One major challenge is the requirement to “conspicuously disclose” the use of a synthetic performer. The statute prescribes no specific language, no formatting standards, and no guidance on placement, which makes it difficult for marketing teams to know where to start. Unlike consumer protection statutes that define “conspicuous” by reference to font size or proximity to material claims, S8420A leaves these details to the advertiser’s judgment.
Additional ambiguities include whether an AI-generated crowd scene or a synthetic hand modeling a product would trigger the obligation, whether only part of a human counts, and whether the depiction must include most or all of a human figure. The law also requires disclosure only when a business has “actual knowledge” that a synthetic performer was used, raising difficult questions about knowledge imputation within large organizations where multiple agencies, production studios, and AI vendors contribute to a single piece of creative.
A further definitional concern: the statute covers not only generative AI but also any “software algorithm” used to create a digital human. Read broadly, this language could encompass traditional CGI, motion-capture technology, and conventional 3D rendering, none of which involve generative AI in the contemporary sense. Whether the legislature intended such an expansive reading remains unclear.
Multi-State Landscape
New York is not acting alone. Several states are developing their own AI disclosure frameworks, and the penalties elsewhere are considerably steeper. While New York imposes a penalty of $1,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for each subsequent violation, California imposes fines of $5,000 per day, Colorado up to $20,000 per violation, and Texas between $10,000 and $200,000 per violation. Because definitions, triggers, and enforcement mechanisms vary across jurisdictions, businesses running national campaigns will need to evaluate whether a single disclosure approach can satisfy multiple states or whether jurisdiction-specific strategies are necessary.
Practical Steps for Compliance
Despite the ambiguities, businesses can take several concrete steps now. Companies should audit existing advertising creative to identify content featuring AI-generated human performers. Creative review workflows should incorporate a mandatory synthetic performer checkpoint at each stage of production. Agreements with advertising agencies, production studios, and AI vendors should be revised to require affirmative identification of synthetic performer use and to allocate responsibility for disclosure compliance. Indemnification provisions addressing a vendor’s failure to disclose are a prudent addition. Finally, companies should consider how this statute fits within their broader AI governance frameworks as regulation at both the state and federal levels continues to develop.
New York’s synthetic performer disclosure law marks an early step in what is likely to become a broader regulatory framework governing AI in advertising. This statute, as well as others in development, signals increasing legislative expectations around transparency in AI-generated content. Companies that establish compliance workflows and update their contractual frameworks now will be well positioned as the regulatory landscape matures.
Falcon Rappaport & Berkman has been advising clients on S8420A since its enactment and welcomes inquiries from businesses seeking to evaluate their obligations. For questions about your exposure, please contact Moish Peltz at mpeltz@frblaw.com.