EveryAILaw.comCalifornia AI Transparency Act (SB 942)
Amendments:
- — AB 853 (Ch. 674) added §§ 22757.3.1-.3.3 (large online platform, GenAI hosting platform, capture device manufacturer duties), pushed the chapter's operative date to 2026-08-02 (§ 22757.6), and expanded enforcement under § 22757.4 to city attorneys and county counsel with prevailing-plaintiff fees
Obligations Covered
Timeline
| Milestone | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Signed | Sep 19, 2024 | Governor signed |
| Phase 1: GenAI providers | Aug 2, 2026 | Latent disclosure, user-facing provenance tools |
| Phase 2: Hosting platforms | Jan 1, 2027 | Platforms must not host non-compliant GenAI systems (§ 22757.3.2) |
| Phase 3: Large online platforms | Jan 1, 2027 | Provenance detection and UI disclosure (§ 22757.3.1) |
| Phase 4: Capture device manufacturers | Jan 1, 2028 | Embed latent disclosure in captured content (§ 22757.3.3) |
Related Regulations and Standards
Related instruments are selected from shared compliance obligations and jurisdiction coverage.
GenAI Content Provenance Disclosure #
Operative since 2026-08-02, the same day EU AI Act Article 50 reached general application — AB 853 moved this chapter's date from 2026-01-01 to match. Providers building C2PA-style provenance for one regime largely satisfy the other. Two caveats on this entry: the threshold attaches to the GenAI system, not the parent company, so a large firm's smaller system may fall outside it; and SB 1000, an urgency bill on the Assembly Third Reading File as of 2026-08-03, would delete that threshold and the manifest-disclosure duty with immediate effect on signature (see data/watch-list.md).
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Latent disclosure | Include a latent disclosure in AI-generated image, video, or audio content (or any combination) created by the covered provider's GenAI system, permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove where technically feasible (§ 22757.3(b)) |
| Latent disclosure contents | Where technically feasible and reasonable, convey directly or by link to a permanent website: provider name; GenAI system name and version number; time and date of creation or alteration; a unique identifier (§ 22757.3(b)(1)) |
| Self-detectable and standards-aligned | The latent disclosure must be detectable by the provider's own AI detection tool and consistent with widely accepted industry standards (§ 22757.3(b)(2)-(3)) |
| Manifest disclosure option | Offer the user the option to include a manifest disclosure identifying content as AI-generated — clear, conspicuous, medium-appropriate, understandable to a reasonable person, and permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove (§ 22757.3(a)) |
| Free AI detection tool | Make an AI detection tool available at no cost that lets a user assess whether image, video, or audio content was created or altered by the provider's GenAI system (§ 22757.2(a)) |
| Tool output limits | The tool must output detected system provenance data and must not output personal provenance data (§ 22757.2(a)(2)-(3)) |
| Tool accessibility | The tool must be publicly accessible (subject to reasonable limits against demonstrable security or integrity risks), accept uploaded content or a URL, and support an API so it can be invoked without visiting the provider's website (§ 22757.2(a)(4)-(6)) |
| Feedback loop | Collect user feedback on the tool's efficacy and incorporate relevant feedback into efforts to improve it (§ 22757.2(b)) |
| Data minimisation | Do not collect or retain personal information from tool users, except opt-in contact details for feedback used only to improve the tool; do not retain submitted content longer than necessary; do not retain personal provenance data from submitted content (§ 22757.2(c)) |
| Licensee contract duty | Contractually require third-party licensees of the GenAI system to maintain its capability to include the latent disclosure (§ 22757.3(c)(1)) |
| 96-hour revocation | On knowledge that a licensee modified the system so it can no longer include the latent disclosure, revoke the license within 96 hours (§ 22757.3(c)(2)); the licensee must then cease using the system (§ 22757.3(c)(3)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Per violation | $5,000; each day in violation is a discrete violation (§ 22757.4(a)(1), (b)) |
| Enforcement | Civil action by the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel; prevailing plaintiff recovers reasonable attorney's fees and costs (§ 22757.4(a)) |
| Third-party licensee | For a licensee that removes a required disclosure (§ 22757.3(c)(3)), the AG, city attorney, or county counsel may seek injunctive relief plus fees and costs (§ 22757.4(c)) |
Platform Content Provenance Detection #
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Provenance detection | Large online platforms must detect whether content distributed on the platform carries provenance data compliant with widely adopted specifications (§ 22757.3.1) |
| User interface disclosure | Provide a user interface disclosing whether system provenance data is available for the content (§ 22757.3.1) |
| Provenance inspection | Allow users to inspect available system provenance data (§ 22757.3.1) |
| No stripping | Must not strip system provenance data or digital signatures, to the extent technically feasible (§ 22757.3.1) |
| Hosting compliance | GenAI system hosting platforms must not knowingly make available a GenAI system that fails to place the required disclosures (§ 22757.3.2) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Per violation | $5,000; each day in violation is a discrete violation (§ 22757.4(a)(1), (b)) |
| Enforcement | Civil action by the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel; prevailing plaintiff recovers reasonable attorney's fees and costs (§ 22757.4(a)) |
Capture Device Latent Disclosure #
The provenance chain's other end: the rest of the chapter marks content as synthetic, while this section marks content as camera-captured. It reaches hardware manufacturers rather than AI developers, so it lands on companies that may not otherwise track AI regulation — and default-on embedding (subdivision (a)(2)) is a firmware-level design decision with a long lead time.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| User option | Provide the user with the option to include a latent disclosure in captured content (§ 22757.3.3(a)(1)) |
| Disclosure contents | The latent disclosure conveys the capture device manufacturer's name, the device name and version number, and the time and date of the content's creation or alteration (§ 22757.3.3(a)(1)(A)-(C)) |
| Default embedding | Embed latent disclosures in content captured by the device by default (§ 22757.3.3(a)(2)) |
| Feasibility limit | Compliance is required only to the extent technically feasible and compliant with widely adopted specifications adopted by an established standards-setting body (§ 22757.3.3(b)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Per violation | $5,000; each day a capture device manufacturer is in violation is a discrete violation (§ 22757.4(a)(1), (b)) |
| Enforcement | Civil action by the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel; prevailing plaintiff recovers reasonable attorney's fees and costs (§ 22757.4(a)) |
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