CA SB942: California AI Transparency Act.

In one paragraph

California's SB 942, the California AI Transparency Act, as amended, requires anyone who produces a generative AI system publicly accessible in California to offer a free, public disclosure verification tool and, where technically feasible, embed hard-to-remove latent disclosures (provider, system and version, time and date, unique ID, whether AI created or altered it) in AI image, video and audio output. Penalty: $5,000 per violation, each day a separate violation. SB 1000 (Chapter 861), effective September 30, 2026, dropped the original 1,000,000-user threshold and the visible-label option. Signed September 19, 2024 (Chapter 291); duties operative August 2, 2026, as moved by AB 853.

Plain-English summary, written with AI assistance. The official text controls.

What it means for business

GenAI providers with systems publicly accessible in California (no user threshold since September 30, 2026) must offer a free disclosure verification tool and, where technically feasible, embed latent disclosures in AI images, video and audio; $5,000 per violation per day. Platforms: from 2027.

Key provisions

1. 1Covered provider: a person that creates, codes or otherwise produces a GenAI system publicly accessible within California; SB 1000 deleted the original over-1,000,000-monthly-visitors-or-users threshold and the duty to offer users a manifest (visible) disclosure (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 22757.1, 22757.3)
2. 2Free disclosure verification tool (§ 22757.2, formerly the AI detection tool): checks whether image, video or audio content was created or altered, other than by minor modifications such as cropping, resizing or color changes, by the provider's system; outputs system provenance data, and personal information only with that person's express consent; publicly accessible (reasonable limits for security, integrity or misuse); accepts uploads or URLs and supports an API; a compliant third-party tool that works with the provider's latent disclosures and is clearly reachable from its interface may be used
3. 3Providers must collect feedback on the tool, may not collect, use, retain, sell or share personal information from tool users or processed content beyond what is strictly necessary (except to contact users who opt in), and may not condition access to the GenAI system or the tool on personal information beyond what is strictly necessary
4. 4Latent disclosures, to the extent technically feasible, in image, video and audio content the system creates or alters: provider name, system name and version, time and date, a unique identifier, whether the system created or altered it, and from January 1, 2029 whether the system is designed primarily as assistive technology; permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove or tamper with, compatible with the verification tool and interoperable with widely recognized industry standards (§ 22757.3)
5. 5Licensing: providers notify licensees of their obligations; a provider that knows an identifiable licensee made the system noncompliant must, within 72 hours, terminate its authorization or notify it; the licensee must fix or stop using the system and report back within 96 hours, and unresolved cases are reported to the Attorney General
6. 6Penalties: $5,000 per violation, each day a discrete violation, in actions by the Attorney General, a city attorney or a county counsel, plus attorney's fees; falsely claiming a system is designed primarily as assistive technology carries $50,000 per violation until January 1, 2029. Exempt: such assistive-technology systems until January 1, 2029, and exclusively non-user-generated video games
7. 7From January 1, 2027 (AB 853; § 22757.3.1 rewritten by AB 2713, Chapter 856, Statutes of 2026): large online platforms (public-facing social media, file-sharing and mass messaging platforms and stand-alone search engines with over 2,000,000 unique monthly users) must detect provenance data, show whether system provenance data or a digital signature identifies content as AI-generated, substantially AI-altered or device-captured, let users inspect system provenance data, and, to the extent technically feasible, not knowingly strip system provenance data or digital signatures (only standards-compliant or interoperable data is covered); GenAI hosting platforms may not knowingly offer systems that skip disclosures. Capture-device makers must, where technically feasible and standards-compliant, offer and by default embed latent disclosures in devices first produced for sale in California from January 1, 2028
8. 8Signed September 19, 2024 (Chapter 291, Statutes of 2024); operative August 2, 2026 under AB 853 (Chapter 674, Statutes of 2025; originally January 1, 2026). SB 1000 (Chapter 861) and AB 2713 (Chapter 856) were both signed September 30, 2026; SB 1000 is an urgency statute and took effect immediately

Latest legislative action

Sep 19, 2024. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 291, Statutes of 2024.

Sponsors

Roll call votes (showing 3 of 10)

Related and companion bills

• California SB1000California AI Transparency Act.
• California AB853California AI Transparency Act.