Pennsylvania's new law requires labels on AI-made ads that mislead buyers about a product

The label only kicks in when AI misleads buyers about the product itself, and the fine tops out at $3,000.

By Think Facility · October 24, 2026 · AI policy Advertising

Pennsylvania just made misleading AI in ads a labeling offense. Governor Josh Shapiro signed Senate Bill 806 on October 22, 2026, and it's now Act No. 99 of 2026, according to the General Assembly's record of the bill.

Officially, it's the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act. If an ad uses AI-made or AI-altered content that gives buyers a false idea of what they're getting, it has to say so. Rules start 60 days after signing (December 21, by our count).

Law: Act No. 99 of 2026
Approved by the Governor: Oct. 22, 2026
Takes effect: in 60 days
Final votes: Senate 48 to 2, House 163 to 40
Civil fine: does not exceed $3,000

What the law requires

Narrow trigger, though. Under the bill's text, a label is only needed when an ad uses synthetic content in a way that "creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin or authenticity" of what's being sold. Synthetic content is anything AI generated or significantly changed, from a photo to an audio clip. So a fake product shot needs a label.

A granite building with a green-tiled dome and columned entrance at the top of wide stone steps, framed by trees under a blue sky with clouds — The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, where Senate Bill 806 passed both chambers. Photo: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What does the label say? Just that the ad contains content made or modified with AI. And it has to appear the first time that content does, in the same medium. Where it's technically possible, it should be permanent or very hard to strip out (a watermark, I suspect, is what that means in practice).

Lawmakers even set how loud. Spoken disclosures need a volume and pace people can follow, and on-screen ones have to stay up long enough to read.

Fiction and parody get a pass. So does content limited to text. As I read it, an AI-written product blurb on its own wouldn't need a label (an AI-made photo beside it still could).

The bill's author, State Senator Nick Pisciottano, gave this example in his release on October 7, the day the bill cleared the legislature:

if an advertiser uses an AI-generated image that could lead consumers to believe they are seeing an actual product, the ad must clearly disclose that AI was used to create or modify the content.

From Pisciottano’s Landmark AI Bill Establishes One of Nation’s First Advertising Disclosure Standards

What changes for shoppers and businesses

Enforcement sits with the state attorney general or a local district attorney. Either one can ask a court to stop an ad and bring a civil case, and the fine tops out at $3,000, plus attorney fees and court costs. Granted, that's small. For a big advertiser, I think the court order matters more than the money (the bill doesn't say whether each ad counts as one violation).

Shoppers get a label on the ads most likely to fool them about a product. Plenty of AI in an ad can go unlabeled, though. A generated background, say, or an AI voiceover that doesn't misstate anything doesn't mislead anyone about the goods, so it's outside the rule.

An honest advertiser can meet the rule easily. Pisciottano said the law lets Pennsylvanians make informed decisions while still letting businesses use the technology. He also says it puts the state in a small group acting early on AI in advertising. His release doesn't name the others.

Advertisers in Pennsylvania have until December 21, 2026.

Pennsylvania's new law requires labels on AI-made ads that mislead buyers about a product

What the law requires

What changes for shoppers and businesses

More on AI policy