Pennsylvania requires AI disclosures for deceptive advertising

Pennsylvania has enacted a disclosure law for artificial-intelligence-generated advertising, requiring advertisers to identify synthetic content when it could leave consumers with a false impression about a product or service. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act on Oct. 22, making it Act 99 of 2026.

The measure, also known as Senate Bill 806, does not mandate a label whenever AI is used in advertising. Its requirement is triggered when synthetic content creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin or authenticity of the advertised goods or services.

Synthetic content covers information significantly modified or generated by AI, including images, video, audio clips and text. An advertiser may not create, disseminate, or cause the creation and dissemination of a covered advertisement without disclosing that the content was modified or generated using AI.

The disclosure must be clear and conspicuous, appear when consumers first encounter the synthetic content, and be delivered in the same medium. Where technically feasible, it must be permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove.

The law exempts content limited to text as well as content that is evidently fictional. It also excludes parody, satire, commentary and criticism. AI-generated text on its own therefore does not activate this disclosure rule.

Several important terms remain undefined. The statute does not specify what amounts to a false consumer perception, when material has been “significantly modified” by AI, or who qualifies as an advertiser. Holland & Knight noted that the provision covering parties that cause content to be created and disseminated could extend beyond a brand to others involved in preparing or publishing an advertisement.

Enforcement rests with the Pennsylvania attorney general and appropriate district attorneys, who may seek injunctions when they believe a prohibited practice is occurring or imminent and action serves the public interest. They may also bring civil cases, in which courts can impose fines of up to $3,000, along with actual attorney fees and court costs. The act creates no private right of action and includes no warning-letter, audit or cure process before enforcement.

An AI disclosure does not shield advertising from other state consumer-protection claims. Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law still applies to advertisements that are otherwise false or misleading, and it provides aggrieved individuals a private right of action for damages.

Kelley Drye characterized the measure as consumer-protection legislation rather than a law primarily directed at synthetic performers. The firm said the unsettled enforcement approach could lead some businesses to disclose AI use more broadly than the statute’s narrow trigger appears to require.

The requirements take effect Dec. 21, 60 days after enactment.