Pennsylvania has enacted legislation imposing new disclosure requirements on certain advertisements that use artificial intelligence (AI)-generated or AI-modified content. Senate Bill 806, now Act 99 of 2026, was signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro on October 22, 2026. The statute, titled the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act, establishes a disclosure requirement for advertisers whose use of synthetic content creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin, or authenticity of the goods or services being advertised.
The law is particularly relevant to businesses that use AI-generated images, videos, or audio in their marketing and advertising campaigns, including financial services providers that employ synthetic content to promote lending products, deposit accounts, payment services, or other consumer financial products. Although the statute is directed at deceptive advertising rather than AI use generally, its broad definitions and disclosure requirements warrant attention from businesses using generative AI in consumer-facing advertising.
What Does the New Law Require?
Section 4 prohibits an advertiser from creating and disseminating, or causing the creation and dissemination of, an advertisement using synthetic content in a manner that creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin, or authenticity of the advertised goods or services, unless the advertisement includes a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the content was modified or generated using AI.
The statute defines “synthetic content” as information, including an image, video, audio clip, or text, that has been significantly modified or generated by AI. Its definition of AI expressly includes generative AI.
The law does not impose a blanket disclosure requirement whenever an advertiser uses AI. Rather, the disclosure obligation is tied to the use of synthetic content in a manner that creates a false consumer perception about the advertised goods or services.
For example, an advertiser using an AI-generated video that appears to depict a real customer describing an actual experience with a financial product could face questions under the statute if the presentation creates a false impression about the authenticity of the testimonial. Similarly, synthetic audio or imagery that falsely suggests a product, service, or endorsement is genuine could trigger the disclosure requirement.
Whether a particular advertisement falls within the statute will depend on its content, context, and presentation.
What Constitutes a Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure?
The statute imposes detailed requirements governing the placement and presentation of disclosures. A disclosure must satisfy the following requirements:
- Noticeability and comprehension. The disclosure must be presented in a size, color, contrast, location, duration, and audibility that make it readily noticeable, readable, understandable, and capable of being heard.
- Language. The disclosure must be presented in the language or other form of interaction the consumer uses to interact with or comprehend the synthetic content.
- Consistency. The disclosure cannot contradict or be inconsistent with other information presented alongside it.
- Proximity. When the disclosure modifies, explains, or clarifies other information, it must appear sufficiently close to that information to be noticed and understood, and it cannot be obscured.
- Audio and visual presentation. Audio disclosures must be delivered at a volume and cadence sufficient for consumers to hear and comprehend them. Visual disclosures must be sufficiently legible and remain on screen long enough for consumers to read and understand them.
- Print advertisements. Disclosures in print advertisements and promotional materials, including point-of-sale displays and brochures, must be sufficiently noticeable and use type that contrasts with the background.
The statute also requires the disclosure to appear the first time the synthetic content is presented to the consumer, in the same medium as the synthetic content, and, to the extent technically feasible, in a form that is permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove.
These requirements make the manner of disclosure as important as its substance. A disclosure that is technically present but difficult to see, hear, or understand may not satisfy the statute.
Exceptions
The statute excludes three categories of content from its disclosure requirement:
- Content that is evidently fictional based on the content or context of the depiction.
- Parody, satire, commentary, or criticism.
- Content limited to text.
The text-only exception is notable. Although the statute’s definition of synthetic content encompasses text significantly modified or generated by AI, the disclosure provision expressly excludes content limited to text. Consequently, AI-generated text alone does not trigger this particular disclosure requirement, even though other laws governing deceptive advertising may remain applicable.
The exception for evidently fictional content also suggests that the law is principally concerned with synthetic depictions that could mislead consumers into believing that an advertisement or its underlying representation is authentic. The statute does not, however, define a specific test for determining when content is evidently fictional.
Enforcement and Potential Penalties
The statute authorizes the Pennsylvania Attorney General or the appropriate district attorney to seek injunctive relief when the official has reason to believe that a prohibited practice is occurring or is about to occur and proceedings would be in the public interest.
The Attorney General or appropriate district attorney may also bring a civil action for violations. A court may award a civil fine of up to $3,000, as well as actual attorney fees and court costs.
The statute does not expressly create a private right of action. Its enforcement provisions identify the Attorney General and appropriate district attorneys as the officials authorized to bring actions under the Act. The provision authorizing a court to award damages does not, standing alone, resolve every question concerning who may pursue a claim, but the text does not expressly authorize consumers to sue directly under the new law.
Importantly, the Act provides that disclosure of AI use does not limit any other recourse available under law. Thus, compliance with the new disclosure requirement does not immunize an advertiser from otherwise applicable claims based on deceptive advertising or other unlawful conduct.
Implications for Consumer Financial Services Providers
Banks, credit unions, finance companies, fintechs, payment providers, and other consumer-facing businesses should evaluate their use of synthetic content in advertising distributed in Pennsylvania.
The most immediate concern is not the use of AI itself, but the potential for synthetic content to create a misleading impression about a product, service, customer experience, endorsement, or other material representation. Advertisers should consider whether their campaigns include AI-generated or materially AI-modified testimonials, spokespersons, product demonstrations, audio, or video.
Businesses should consider taking the following steps:
- Review consumer-facing advertisements that use AI-generated or significantly AI-modified images, videos, and audio.
- Determine whether the content could create a false impression about the nature, origin, or authenticity of the advertised goods or services.
- Establish a process for including disclosures in the same medium as the synthetic content, beginning with its first presentation.
- Ensure that disclosures meet the statute’s presentation requirements, including its requirements concerning visibility, audibility, language, duration, and resistance to removal.
- Review the controls used by advertising agencies, third-party marketing vendors, and other parties that create or distribute synthetic advertising on a business’s behalf.
Businesses should also distinguish this law’s specific disclosure obligation from their broader compliance obligations. The Act does not authorize deceptive advertising merely because an advertiser discloses the use of AI, nor does it establish a general safe harbor for AI-generated marketing.
Effective Date
The Act provides that it takes effect 60 days after enactment. Because Governor Shapiro approved it on October 22, 2026, the new requirements are scheduled to take effect on December 21, 2026.
Takeaway
Pennsylvania’s Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act adds another state-level requirement to the evolving legal framework governing the use of generative AI in commercial communications. Its scope is narrower than a general AI transparency mandate: the disclosure requirement applies to specified uses of synthetic content that create a false consumer perception about advertised goods or services, subject to the statute’s stated exceptions.
Nevertheless, businesses using AI-generated imagery, audio, or video in consumer advertising should not assume that a disclosure buried in fine print or added after the content has already been presented will suffice. Reviewing advertising practices and implementing appropriate disclosure controls before the December 21 effective date would be a prudent compliance measure.