Pennsylvania Enacts AI Deceptive Advertising Disclosure Law, Effective December 21

Pennsylvania legislative materials beside a laptop displaying an abstract advertising disclosure interface.

The Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act targets advertisements that use AI-generated or AI-modified synthetic content to create a false consumer impression. It is narrower than a general requirement to label all AI content.

Pennsylvania has enacted a new AI-specific advertising law. Senate Bill 806 was approved as Act 99 of 2026 on October 22, 2026, according to the General Assembly’s bill record. The law takes effect on December 21, 2026—60 days after enactment.

The controlling final text is Printer’s Number 1808, which names the statute the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act.

What the law prohibits

The statute does not require a disclosure every time AI appears in advertising. Its trigger is more specific.

An advertiser may not knowingly, recklessly, or willfully create and disseminate, or cause to be created and disseminated, an advertisement using synthetic content in a way that creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin, or authenticity of the goods or services being advertised, unless the advertisement carries a clear and conspicuous disclosure.

The required disclosure must state that the advertisement contains content modified or generated using artificial intelligence. Under the statute, it must appear when the synthetic content is first presented to the consumer, be delivered in the same medium as that content, and—where technically feasible—be permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove.

The law defines synthetic content as information, including an image, video, audio clip, or text, that has been significantly modified or generated by AI. It also supplies detailed standards for when a disclosure is “clear and conspicuous,” including requirements tied to visibility, audibility, proximity, language, and legibility.

What the law leaves outside its disclosure rule

Act 99 expressly excludes three categories from the disclosure provision:

  • content that is evidently fictional from the content or context;
  • parody, satire, commentary, or criticism; and
  • content limited to text.

Those exclusions, together with the false-consumer-perception requirement, matter. The statute is not a blanket AI-labeling law, and it does not say that every AI-generated image, video, audio clip, or other synthetic element in an ad must be labeled.

The final text also does not define “advertiser.” How that term applies in particular arrangements may therefore require further interpretation as the law is enforced.

Enforcement and remedies

The Attorney General or an appropriate district attorney may seek a temporary or permanent injunction when there is reason to believe a person is using, or is about to use, a prohibited practice and proceedings would be in the public interest. Those officials may also bring a civil action for violations.

A court of competent jurisdiction may award a civil fine of up to $3,000, along with actual attorney fees and court costs. The statute does not specify whether the $3,000 maximum applies per advertisement, per violation, or on another basis. It also does not expressly create a private right of action.

The law further states that disclosure under the Act does not limit other recourse available under law.

The practical compliance question

For businesses, agencies, and advertisers using AI-altered or AI-generated material, the question is not simply whether AI was used. The statutory question is whether synthetic content is used in an advertisement in a manner that creates a false consumer perception about the advertised goods’ or services’ nature, origin, or authenticity.

Where the rule applies, the disclosure must be designed for the medium in which consumers encounter the synthetic content. A visual disclosure that is too brief to read, an audio disclosure that cannot be understood, or a disclosure separated from the altered content may not satisfy the statute’s stated standards.

Act 99 gives Pennsylvania a targeted consumer-advertising rule for deceptive uses of AI-generated or AI-modified content. Its reach will become clearer through enforcement and any future guidance, but its effective date is already set: December 21, 2026.

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