Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act into law on Thursday, October 22, requiring labels on ads that use AI-generated or heavily AI-edited content in a way that could mislead buyers. The measure, Senate Bill 806, is listed as Act 99 of 2026, and it takes effect on December 21, sixty days after approval. The rule covers ads in every format, from television commercials by large companies to printed flyers for local businesses, and it applies regardless of where an ad was made, so a spot produced in another state still needs a label if it is expected to run in Pennsylvania.
What triggers a label
The law does not put a label on every ad that touches AI. It bars an advertiser from knowingly, recklessly or willfully creating or sharing an ad that uses synthetic content in a way that creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin or authenticity of the goods or services advertised, unless the ad carries a clear and conspicuous disclosure. Synthetic content means images, video, audio clips and text that have been significantly modified or generated by AI. That false-perception test matters: an analysis of the act notes it can be read more narrowly than a general AI-disclosure mandate, so advertisers must judge both the content and the claim it conveys.
There are also express exemptions. Content limited to text is exempt, as are parody, satire, commentary and criticism, and material that is evidently fictional. Together, those carve-outs mean the law does not require a label on every AI-assisted ad, only on synthetic content that risks misleading the buyer about what is being sold.
What the label must look like
When the rule is triggered, the disclosure must tell consumers that the advertisement contains content modified or generated using artificial intelligence. It must appear when the synthetic content is first presented, and in the same medium as that content, so a video ad carries a video disclosure and an audio ad carries an audio one. Where technically feasible, the disclosure must be permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove. Disclosures must also be noticeable and understandable, with requirements suited to how the consumer receives the content, including visual, audio and print-specific rules.
What happens if advertisers do not comply
Enforcement sits with public officials, not private lawsuits. The state attorney general or a district attorney may seek an injunction or bring a civil action, and a court may impose a civil fine of up to $3,000 along with attorney fees and court costs. The act provides no private right of action, so individual consumers cannot sue under it directly. Advertisers running AI-generated or heavily AI-edited images, video or audio in Pennsylvania campaigns have until December 21 to work out what the law asks of them.
Why It Matters
Pennsylvania is among the first states to require disclosures on AI-generated content, and its rule reaches beyond its borders because it applies no matter where an ad was produced. Any campaign that reaches Pennsylvania audiences, including national spots, will need a labelling process before December 21. The open questions are just as important as the rule itself: the law does not define what counts as significantly modified or evidently fictional, and it is unclear what qualifies as a false consumer perception or who will decide. State Senator Nick Pisciottano, who introduced the bill, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Until regulators or courts fill those gaps, advertisers and audiences alike cannot tell exactly which ads will carry labels.
Background
States across the country are grappling with how to regulate AI-generated content in advertising, and Pennsylvania now joins a small group that has put a disclosure requirement into law, following the same pattern of state-level action seen in Virginia’s statewide AI cyberattack plan and Texas’s lawsuit against OpenAI.
Source: The Verge, Let’s Data Science
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