AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 21, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 9, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 26, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

96

URGENCY STATUTE

Introduced by Senator Becker

February 9, 2026

An act to amend Sections 22757.1, 22757.2, and 22757.3 of 22757.3, 22757.4, and 22757.5 of, and to add and repeal Section 22757.4.1 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to artificial intelligence, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the California AI Transparency Act, Act (CATA), beginning August 2, 2026, generally regulates provenance data disclosure in content generated by artificial intelligence (AI), including by requiring a covered provider to make available an AI detection tool at no cost to the user that meets certain criteria. Existing law requires a covered provider to offer the user the option to include a certain manifest disclosure in image, video, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, created or altered by the covered provider’s generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) system and requires a covered provider to include a certain latent disclosure in AI-generated image, video, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, created by the covered provider’s GenAI system. Existing law defines “covered provider” for these purposes to mean a person that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative AI system that has over 1,000,000 monthly visitors or users and is publicly accessible within the geographic boundaries of the state.

This bill would recast those provisions to, among other changes, delete the user threshold from the definition of “covered provider,” replace the term “AI detection tool” with “disclosure verification tool,” delete the above-described requirement of a covered provider to offer the user the option to include a manifest disclosure in content, and additionally require a covered provider to include in the above-described latent disclosure whether the GenAI system created or altered the content. The bill would delay CATA’s operation with respect to a GenAI system that is designed to primarily function as assistive technology, as defined, would prohibit a covered provider from falsely representing that a GenAI system is designed to primarily function as assistive technology, and would punish a covered provider who makes such a false representation with a certain civil action, as specified.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Establishing an ecosystem of information online that allows consumers to verify the provenance of content, including, but not limited to, whether or not it was generated or modified by a generative artificial intelligence (AI) system is paramount to combating misinformation and disinformation as it relates to public health, election integrity, preventing fraud, extortion, or using generative AI to create content for other malicious purposes.

(b) Conveying conflicting manifest and latent provenance information to consumers is detrimental to trust in both the provenance of content and the authenticity of any person, entity, or institution conveyed in that content.

(c) AI provenance technology is still developing, and ensuring that information conveyed to consumers regarding a piece of content’s provenance is accurate, accessible, and resilient to common transformations to the extent technically feasible over time requires legislation to be adaptive and technologically agnostic.

(d) Accordingly, encouraging the adoption, interoperability, and continued development of widely accepted technical standards is necessary to promote reliable, scalable, and evolvable content provenance mechanisms.

SEC. 2.

Section 22757.1 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22757.1.

As used in this chapter:

(a) “Artificial intelligence” or “AI” means an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments.

(b) “Assistive technology” means an item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities and any service that directly assists an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of the item, equipment, or product system.

(c) “Capture device” means a device that can record photographs, audio, or video content, including, but not limited to, video and still photography cameras, mobile phones with built-in cameras or microphones, and voice recorders.

(d) (1) “Capture device manufacturer” means a person who produces a capture device for sale in the state.

(2) “Capture device manufacturer” does not include a person exclusively engaged in the assembly of a capture device.

(e) “Covered provider” means a person that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative artificial intelligence system that is publicly accessible within the geographic boundaries of the state.

(f) “Digital signature” means a cryptography-based method that identifies the user or entity that attests to the information provided in the signed section.

(g) “Generative artificial intelligence system” or “GenAI system” means an artificial intelligence that can generate derived synthetic content, including text, images, video, and audio, that emulates the structure and characteristics of the system’s training data.

(h) “GenAI hosting platform” means an internet website or application that makes available for download the source code or model weights a generative artificial intelligence system by a resident of the state, regardless of whether the terms of that use include compensation.

(i) (1) “Large online platform” means a public-facing social media platform, file-sharing platform, mass messaging platform, or stand-alone search engine that distributes content to users who did not create or collaborate in creating the content that exceeded 2,000,000 unique monthly users during the preceding 12 months.

(2) “Large online platform” does not include either of the following:

(A) A broadband internet access service, as defined in Section 3100 of the Civil Code.

(B) A telecommunications service, as defined in Section 153 of Title 47 of the United States Code.

(j) “Mass messaging platform” means a direct messaging platform that allows users to distribute content to more than 100 users simultaneously.

(k) “Metadata” means structural or descriptive information about data.

(l) “Minor modification” means any of the following alterations:

(1) A change to brightness, contrast, or color.

(2) Sharpening.

(3) Saturating.

(4) File resizing.

(5) Scaling.

(6) Cropping.

(7) File format conversions.

(8) Denoising and removal of background noise in audio.

(m) “Personal information” has the same meaning as defined in Section 1798.140 of the Civil Code.

(n) “Provenance data” means information about the origin of a piece of digital content and the history of modifications to the content that is in a format that is compliant, or interoperable with, widely adopted specifications adopted by an established standards-setting body.

(o) “System provenance data” means provenance data that is not reasonably capable of being associated with a particular user and that contains either of the following:

(1) Information regarding the type of device, system, or service that was used to generate a piece of digital content.

(2) Information related to content authenticity.

SEC. 3.

Section 22757.2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22757.2.

(a) A covered provider shall make available a disclosure verification tool at no cost to the user that meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The tool allows a user to assess whether image, video, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, was created or altered, except by minor modification, by the covered provider’s GenAI system.

(2) The tool outputs any system provenance data that is detected in the content.

(3) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the tool does not output any personal information that is detected in the content.

(B) The tool may output personal information that is detected in the content if the user to whom the personal information pertains expressly consents, clearly and conspicuously in plain language, to including personal information specified by the user in the content pursuant to a notice that does both of the following:

(i) Informs the user of the personal information that may be output by the tool.

(ii) Informs the user that once personal information is embedded into provenance data and exported, the information becomes part of the file’s permanent digital footprint and cannot be retracted from copies already in circulation.

(4) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the tool is publicly accessible.

(B) A covered provider may impose reasonable limitations on access to the tool to prevent, or respond to, demonstrable risks to the security or integrity of its GenAI system or to prevent misuse of the tool for malicious purposes.

(5) The tool allows a user to upload content or provide a uniform resource locator (URL) linking to online content.

(6) The tool supports technology, including an application programming interface, that allows a user to invoke the tool without visiting the covered provider’s internet website.

(b) A covered provider shall collect user feedback related to the efficacy of the covered provider’s AI disclosure verification tool and incorporate relevant feedback into any attempt to improve the efficacy of the tool.

(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a covered provider shall not collect, use, retain, sell, share, or otherwise make available personal information derived either from a user of the covered provider’s AI disclosure verification tool or from any content processed by the disclosure verification tool beyond what is strictly necessary to comply with this chapter.

(2) A covered provider may collect, retain, or use personal information for the sole purpose of communicating with a user that opts into being contacted by the covered provider.

(d) A covered provider shall not make access to the covered provider’s GenAI system or disclosure verification tool contingent upon a user providing personal information beyond what is strictly necessary to comply with this chapter.

(e) A covered provider may satisfy the requirements of this section by directing a user to a third-party disclosure verification tool that is all of the following:

(1) In compliance with this section.

(2) Compatible with latent disclosures included in content produced or altered by the covered provider’s GenAI system.

(3) Clearly and conspicuously accessible through the user interface of the covered provider’s GenAI system.

SEC. 4.

Section 22757.3 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22757.3.

(a) To the extent it is technically feasible, a covered provider shall include a latent disclosure that meets all of the following criteria in any image, video, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, created or altered, except by minor modification, by the covered provider’s GenAI system:

(1) The disclosure conveys all of the following information, either directly or through a link to a permanent internet website:

(A) The name of the covered provider.

(B) The name and version information of the GenAI system that created or altered the content.

(C) The time and date of the content’s creation or alteration.

(D) A unique identifier.

(E) Whether the GenAI system created or altered the content.

(F) Whether On and after January 1, 2029, whether the GenAI system is designed to primarily function as assistive technology.

(2) The disclosure is permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove or tamper with.

(3) The disclosure is compatible with the covered provider’s disclosure verification tool.

(4) The disclosure is compliant or interoperable with widely recognized industry standards.

(b) (1) If a covered provider licenses its GenAI system to a third party, the covered provider shall require both of the following as terms of the license: shall, when it provides the license, notify the licensee of the licensee’s obligations under this chapter.

(2) If a covered provider knows that an identifiable third-party licensee modified a licensed GenAI system such that it no longer complies with this chapter, the covered provider shall terminate the licensee’s authorization to use the GenAI system within 72 hours of discovering the licensee’s action. do either of the following:

(3) A third-party licensee that receives a notice under paragraph (2) shall modify the licensed GenAI system to be in compliance with this chapter or cease using or making available a the licensed GenAI system, including a copy or modified version of the GenAI system, after the licensee’s authorization to use the GenAI system has been terminated by the covered provider pursuant to paragraph (2). system and shall report which of those actions it took to the covered provider within 96 hours of receipt of the notice.

(5) This subdivision does not require a covered provider to monitor, investigate, or otherwise inquire into a third-party licensee’s use or modification of a licensed GenAI system.

SEC. 5.

Section 22757.4 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22757.4.

(a) (1) A violator of this chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation to be collected in a civil action filed by the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel.

(2) A prevailing plaintiff in an action brought pursuant to this subdivision shall be entitled to all reasonable attorney’s costs and fees.

(b) Each day that a covered provider, large online platform, or capture device manufacturer is in violation of this chapter shall be deemed a discrete violation.

SEC. 6.

Section 22757.4.1 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

SEC. 7.

Section 22757.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22757.5.

(a) This chapter does not apply to any product, service, internet website, or application that provides exclusively non-user-generated video game, television, streaming, movie, or interactive experiences. videogames.

SEC. 5.SEC. 8.

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

Establishing an ecosystem of information online that allows consumers to verify the provenance of content, including, but not limited to, whether or not it was generated or modified by a generative artificial intelligence system is paramount to combating misinformation and disinformation as it relates to public health, election integrity, preventing fraud, extortion, or using generative artificial intelligence to create content for other malicious purposes, and accordingly, it is necessary that this act go into immediate effect.