Just last year, AI was just something marketers were experimenting with. Today, it’s become a major component of many organizations’ creative and advertising workflows. Though AI adoption accelerated, legislation governing its use in advertising largely remained stagnant until New York passed its Synthetic Performer Disclosure Law in December 2025. Now that this law has officially gone into effect (as of June 9, 2026), businesses, advertisers and marketers using AI in their advertising efforts need to understand how it could affect both current and future campaigns.
What Is the Synthetic Performer Disclosure Law?
New York’s first-of-its-kind regulation requires direct disclosure when AI-generated or digitally altered “performers” are used in advertising content. A “synthetic performer” is a computer-generated or digitally altered human-like figure that appears to be a real person. Those who fail to comply with the law will face a $1,000 penalty following a first violation and can receive a $5,000 fine for each subsequent infraction.
Importantly, this statute doesn’t just demand disclosure for advertisements created after the law took effect. Businesses and creators must review any marketing or advertising content that remains publicly available or continues to be used after June 9, 2026, including active digital campaigns, website content, email marketing materials and social media posts promoting a product or service featuring synthetic performers.
Anyone promoting commercial goods or services through advertising content with AI-generated or software-created human-like figures must be transparent about their use of AI if their content reaches New York audiences. This applies regardless of where the business is located or where the content was produced and can include:
- Brands and businesses running advertising campaigns
- Marketing and advertising agencies
- Content production teams and studios
- Any third-party creators producing commercial promotional content
Additionally, the law covers a wide range of advertising formats and channels:
- TV commercials
- Streaming ads
- Online video ads
- Paid social media advertising
- Organic promotional social media content
- Paid search and display advertising
- Influencer marketing content and sponsored posts
- Branded content and creator collaborations
- Email marketing campaigns
- Website and landing page content
- Any other digital or traditional media used to promote goods or services
The determining factors are whether the content: 1) is used for commercial promotion and 2) includes a synthetic or digitally created human-like figure that appears to be a real person.
Exemptions to the Law
Not every use of AI is impacted. Although the law has a fairly open interpretation, it is ultimately focused on AI-generated or digitally altered human performers in advertising.
Audio-Only Advertisements
Ads with no visual component are not subject to disclosure requirements, even if AI tools are used in their creation.
Language Translations of Human Performers
AI used solely to translate or localize the speech of a real human performer does not trigger disclosure requirements.
Expressive Works and Related Promotions
This includes films, television programs, streaming content, documentaries, video games, and similar audiovisual works. Promotional materials for these works are generally exempt where the synthetic performer used in the advertisement is consistent with its use in the underlying work.
Third-Party Publishers and Distributors
Newspapers, magazines, television networks, streaming platforms, billboards, and transit providers are generally not responsible for disclosure when they are only distributing advertising content created by others.
Minor Digital Enhancements to Real Performers
Standard post-production edits such as retouching, color correction, or other routine enhancements applied to real human people featured in ad and marketing materials typically do not trigger disclosure requirements.
How to Comply with Disclosure Requirements
If your advertisement features an AI-generated or digitally created person promoting your business, products or services, you need to include a disclosure informing consumers that the person in the marketing or advertising materials was created with AI.
While the law requires this disclosure to be clear and “conspicuous,” it doesn’t actually detail specifications on how to adhere to that standard. Until there is specific guidance, we recommend using the Federal Trade Commission’s disclosure standards as a starting point.
Disclosures should:
- Be easy to notice within the ad
- Be easy to understand for the average consumer
- Appear near the AI-generated or synthetic person it refers to
- Avoid placement in fine print or low-visibility areas of the advertisement
While the law does not require specific wording, disclosures should still clearly communicate that the person appearing in the advertisement was created using AI in a way that is immediately understandable to consumers viewing the content.
