AI Disclosure: New York’s Synthetic Performer Disclosure Law

If you’re thinking about using the lovely, charming, and completely digitally generated actress Tilly Norwood in your upcoming advertising campaign, you better pay attention to New York’s new synthetic performer disclosure statute. This excerpt from a McDermott Will Schulte memo provides an overview of the statute:

New York has enacted a new law requiring disclosures when certain advertisements include digitally created “synthetic performers,” including performers generated using artificial intelligence (AI) or other software algorithms. The law reflects a growing legislative focus on transparency in AI-generated commercial content.

This new law targets a narrow category of advertising content: advertisements that include computer-created, reproduced, or modified digital assets intended to appear as non-identifiable human performers engaged in audiovisual or visual performances. Companies using generative AI tools in marketing, advertising, content creation, and commercial production should evaluate whether their 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 that enforcement would likely rest with the New York attorney general or another state enforcement authority.

The memo provides details about the scope and limitations of the statute, key definitions and exemptions, and offers key takeaways and sample disclosures to assist companies in complying with the statute.