Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1050, requiring explicit disclosure whenever advertisements use AI-generated performers to sell products or services, and prohibiting the continued use of advertisements found in violation.
The law, authored by Senator Angelique Ashby (D-Sacramento), was signed at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles. The bill expands worker protections signed into law the previous year, which help actors and performers protect their digital likenesses in audio and visual productions and establish rules for recreating likenesses of deceased performers.
"Californians deserve to know when the person selling them something isn't a person at all," Newsom said. "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."
The legislation is part of California's broader effort to regulate AI technology. In 2024, Newsom signed the California AI Transparency Act, requiring AI watermarking and directing companies to make AI-detection tools available so people can assess whether content was created or altered by AI systems. Last year, he strengthened that law by extending transparency requirements to large online platforms.
In 2025, the state enacted SB 53, California's Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, which requires frontier AI developers to publicly disclose their safety frameworks and report certain critical safety incidents to the state. California also established the first child online safety protections around AI companion chatbots and strengthened automated decision-making privacy regulations.