S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1228
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. GIANARIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
 
 AN ACT to amend the general  business  law,  in  relation  to  requiring
   advertisements to disclose the use of a synthetic performer
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 396-b of the general  business  law,  as  added  by
 chapter 1031 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows:
   §  396-b.  Advertisements.  1.   (A) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION,
 "GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" MEANS  THE USE OF MACHINE  LEARNING
 TECHNOLOGY,  SOFTWARE, AUTOMATION,   AND  ALGORITHMS  TO  PERFORM TASKS,
 TO MAKE RULES  AND/OR  PREDICTIONS  BASED  ON  EXISTING  DATA  SETS  AND
 INSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
   (I) ANY ARTIFICIAL SYSTEM THAT PERFORMS TASKS UNDER VARYING AND UNPRE-
 DICTABLE  CIRCUMSTANCES WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT HUMAN OVERSIGHT, OR THAT CAN
 LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE AND IMPROVE PERFORMANCE WHEN EXPOSED TO DATA SETS;
   (II)  AN  ARTIFICIAL  SYSTEM  DEVELOPED IN COMPUTER SOFTWARE, PHYSICAL
 HARDWARE, OR  OTHER  CONTEXT  THAT  SOLVES  TASKS  REQUIRING  HUMAN-LIKE
 PERCEPTION,  COGNITION,  PLANNING,  LEARNING, COMMUNICATION, OR PHYSICAL
 ACTION;
   (III) AN  ARTIFICIAL  SYSTEM  DESIGNED  TO THINK OR ACT LIKE A  HUMAN,
 INCLUDING COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES AND NEURAL NETWORKS;
   (IV) A SET OF TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING MACHINE LEARNING, THAT IS DESIGNED
 TO APPROXIMATE A COGNITIVE TASK; AND/OR
   (V) AN ARTIFICIAL SYSTEM DESIGNED  TO  ACT  RATIONALLY,  INCLUDING  AN
 INTELLIGENT  SOFTWARE  AGENT OR EMBODIED ROBOT THAT ACHIEVES GOALS USING
 PERCEPTION,  PLANNING,  REASONING,  LEARNING,  COMMUNICATING,   DECISION
 MAKING, AND ACTING.
   (B)  FOR  PURPOSES  OF  THIS  SECTION,  "SYNTHETIC  PERFORMER" MEANS A
 DIGITALLY CREATED ASSET CREATED, REPRODUCED, OR  MODIFIED  BY  COMPUTER,
 USING  GENERATIVE  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR A SOFTWARE ALGORITHM, THAT
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00785-01-5
              

 S. 1228                             2
 
 IS INTENDED TO CREATE  THE  IMPRESSION  THAT  THE  ASSET  IS  A  NATURAL
 PERFORMER WHO IS NOT RECOGNIZABLE AS ANY IDENTIFIABLE NATURAL PERFORMER.
   2.  Any person, firm, corporation or association, or agent or employee
 thereof, hereinafter called person, who, being engaged in  the  business
 of  dealing  in any property, makes, publishes, disseminates, circulates
 or places before the public or causes, directly  or  indirectly,  to  be
 made,  published,  disseminated, circulated or placed before the public,
 in this state, any advertisement respecting any such  property,  in  any
 newspaper,  magazine, or other publication, or over any radio station or
 television station, unless it is stated in any such  advertisement  that
 the  advertiser  is a dealer in such property or from the context of any
 such advertisement, it plainly appears that such person is a  dealer  in
 such  property  so  offered  for sale in any such advertisement; or when
 placing or causing any such advertisement to appear  in  any  newspaper,
 magazine  or  other  publication  or  radio  or  television  station  as
 described in this section, if requested by the  publisher  of  any  such
 newspaper,  magazine  or  other publication or owner or operator of such
 radio or television station or any agent or  representative  thereof  to
 file  with  such  owner  or operator, publisher, agent or representative
 thereof [his] SUCH PERSON'S true name, or  where  [he]  SUCH  PERSON  is
 transacting  business  under a name other than the true name pursuant to
 law, then the name under which such business  is  transacted,  and  each
 business  address  wherein  any  business  is  transacted  by [him] SUCH
 PERSON, in the class of property advertised or to be advertised for sale
 in such advertisement, shall make any false statement in relation to any
 of such items; or if requested by the publisher of any  such  newspaper,
 magazine  or  other  publication  or  owner or operator of such radio or
 television station or any agent or representative thereof to  file  with
 such  owner,  operator,  publisher,  agent  or  representative thereof a
 statement showing whether [he] SUCH PERSON is causing such advertisement
 to appear or is offering to make such  sale  or  disposition  or  trans-
 action,  as herein set forth, as principal or agent, and if as agent, to
 set forth such information as is specified in this section, in  relation
 to  [his]  SUCH  PERSON'S  principal as well as in relation to [himself]
 SUCH PERSON, shall make any false statement in relation to any  of  such
 items; is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   3.  ANY  PERSON  ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF DEALING IN ANY PROPERTY OR
 SERVICE WHO FOR ANY COMMERCIAL PURPOSE MAKES,  PUBLISHES,  DISSEMINATES,
 CIRCULATES  OR PLACES BEFORE THE PUBLIC OR CAUSES, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECT-
 LY, TO BE MADE, PUBLISHED, DISSEMINATED, CIRCULATED OR PLACED BEFORE THE
 PUBLIC ANY ADVERTISEMENT RESPECTING ANY SUCH PROPERTY OR SERVICE, IN ANY
 MEDIUM OR MEDIA IN WHICH SUCH ADVERTISEMENT APPEARS, SHALL  DISCLOSE  IN
 SUCH  ADVERTISEMENT  IF  A SYNTHETIC PERFORMER IS IN SUCH ADVERTISEMENT,
 WHERE SUCH PERSON HAS ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE.  A VIOLATION OF THIS SUBDIVISION
 SHALL RESULT IN A CIVIL PENALTY OF ONE  THOUSAND  DOLLARS  FOR  A  FIRST
 VIOLATION, AND FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR ANY SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION.
   4. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL LIMIT OR REDUCE ANY RIGHTS ANY PERSON
 MAY  HAVE UNDER SECTION FIFTY, FIFTY-F, OR FIFTY-ONE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS
 LAW OR UNDER ANY OTHER LAW.
   5. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO LIMIT, OR TO ENLARGE,
 THE PROTECTIONS THAT 47 U.S.C. SECTION 230  CONFERS  ON  AN  INTERACTIVE
 COMPUTER  SERVICE  FOR  CONTENT  PROVIDED BY ANOTHER INFORMATION CONTENT
 PROVIDER, AS SUCH TERMS ARE DEFINED IN 47 U.S.C. SECTION 230.
   § 2. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
 sion, section or part of this act shall be  adjudged  by  any  court  of
 competent  jurisdiction  to  be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
 S. 1228                             3
 
 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall  be  confined  in
 its  operation  to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
 the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.