The Californer - California: Governor Newsom signs new law to protect workers, require disclosures on AI-generated advertising

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Sep 16, 2026

Governor Newsom signs new law to protect workers, require disclosures on AI-generated advertising

What you need to know: Governor Newsom signed SB 1050 (Ashby) to require clear disclosure when advertisements use performers generated by AI and protect workers in the creative industry.

LOS ANGELES – Expanding California's work to bring transparency and accountability to rapidly evolving AI technology, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1050 by Senator Angelique Ashby (D-Sacramento), requiring the explicit disclosure on any video or audio advertisement that uses AI-generated performers to sell a product or service. The bill also prohibits the continued use of any advertisement found to be in violation of the law. The Governor signed the legislation with the author at the headquarters of the bill's sponsor, SAG AFTRA, which has frequently collaborated with the Governor to support workers in California's creative economy.

Californians deserve to know when the person selling them something isn't a person at all. Here in California, we're building on our nation-leading AI regulations and putting commonsense guardrails in place to protect consumers, performers, and promote stronger transparency. As AI transforms the entertainment industry, we're protecting workers while ensuring California's creative economy can continue to grow and thrive.

Governor Gavin Newsom

"I'm grateful to Governor Newsom for signing SB 1050. This bill provides important protections for the creative economy, who are the living heartbeat of California," Senator Angelique Ashby (D-Sacramento). "The bill requires that synthetic figures be labeled as such, thus protecting consumers from false advertising and disallowing AI to replace real people – real people who work every day to bring stories and brands to life in the production of all entertainment across the great Golden State."

"We thank Governor Newsom for signing SB 1050 and Senator Ashby for her leadership in authoring this important legislation," said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. "SAG-AFTRA was proud to help craft the language of the bill, which gives consumers greater transparency by making clear when they are seeing synthetics rather than human performers. This is an important step in the broader effort to protect consumers from deceptive AI practices, and to ensure that AI technology isn't used at the expense of human creativity and consent."

Helping you know what's real

A synthetic performer is an AI-created digital figure, voice, or representation that often appears so realistic that its difficult to distinguish whether it is AI or an actual person. California is making sure that viewers can tell the difference.

Under Governor Newsom's leadership, California has been a global leader in protecting actors and performers as AI-generated media transforms the entertainment industry.

This new legislation strengthens worker protections signed into law last year by Governor Newsom to help actors and performers protect their digital likenesses in audio and visual productions. These protections help ensure performers' legal rights when negotiating the use of digital replicas and establish rules for recreating the likenesses of performers who have passed away.

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In 2024, Governor Newsom signed the California AI Transparency Act, a landmark law that requires AI watermarking and directs companies to make AI-detection tools available and disclosers so people can assess whether content was created or altered by their AI systems. Last year, Governor Newsom strengthened the act by creating similar transparency requirements for large online platforms.

A b-roll package of the Governor signing SB 1050 can be downloaded here.

The strongest oversight of AI in the nation

Under Governor Newsom's leadership, California is implementing safeguards to protect against AI security issues — tackling this important topic before any other state in the nation.

Thanks to Senate Bill 813 (McNerney) signed by Governor Newsom last week, California is now the first state in the nation to require assessments by independent verification organizations, to ensure AI systems and programs are following California's robust state laws. The Governor also signed AB 1405 (Bauer-Kahan)to require third-party audits of AI systems. The Governor signed the bill in the wake of a stronger call from AI researchers and experts to create stronger oversight of frontier AI technology.

California was already years ahead of every other state in regulating AI and is creating a guidebook for the rest of the nation. In 2023, Governor Newsom issued a first-of-its-kind executive order directing the state to safely use AI for the benefit of Californians; identify potential risks to individuals, communities, state government, and state workers; and implement guardrails to ensure the government's use of AI protects Californians' rights and safety.

In 2024, the Governor signed a nation-leading comprehensive package of AI legislation addressing issues including deepfakes, AI watermarking, children and workers. The Administration also convened leading AI academics and experts to develop a science-based framework for understanding the capabilities and risks of frontier models.

In 2025, Governor Newsom signed the nation's strongest AI safety law — SB 53, California's Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act — which requires frontier AI developers to publicly disclose their safety frameworks, report certain critical safety incidents to the state and protects whistleblowers who report serious risks. California also established the first child online safety protections around AI companion chatbots in the country and strengthened automated decision making technology privacy regulations.

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Also, last week Governor Newsom signed landmark bipartisan legislation to strengthen safeguards for companion chatbots, prohibiting social media platforms from offering addictive features to users under 16, and expanding privacy protections for children.

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