Transparency in Advertising: New York's Mandate for AI

In New York, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal announced the passage of a bill, A.8887-B (Rosenthal), which was introduced on June 9, 2025. This legislation, which mandates that advertisers disclose when they use synthetic performers created with artificial intelligence (AI), passed the Assembly on June 17, 2025. The Senate counterpart of this bill, S.8420-A, passed the Senate on June 13, 2025, and was delivered to the Assembly on the same day, where it substituted A.8887-B before its final passage. The legislation aims to amend Section 396-b of the general business law.

The primary reason for this legislation stems from the increasing difficulty people face in distinguishing between real individuals and synthetic media in images and videos, particularly with the rise of "deepfakes". Deepfakes are synthetic media that are manipulated to appear as the likeness of a person. They can be digital impersonations of real people or used to create the likeness of a person who doesn't exist. With easy access to technology, deepfakes have become more common across all forms of media, including on social media and in digital advertising.

Assemblymember Rosenthal highlighted that "deepfake images are spreading like wildfire," making it progressively harder for people to discern which images and videos feature a real person versus synthetic media. AI-generated content is also becoming more prevalent in advertising, often without the public's knowledge. This proliferation of manipulated content contributes to "false news narratives" and undermines one's ability to accurately distinguish fact from fiction.

Speaker Heastie emphasized the importance of protecting consumers from being "swayed by false advertising" due to the surge of AI usage. By requiring conspicuous disclosure of synthetic performers, the legislation seeks to empower consumers and ensure a fairer market for New Yorkers. The bill's purpose is to require disclaimers when advertising content contains a deepfake, ensuring that the average user can easily discern that an image is not real at the point of viewing. Failure to properly label such content will result in civil penalties, with a $1,000 fine for a first violation and $5,000 for any subsequent violations.