On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed three new laws aimed at regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes in political advertisements ahead of the 2024 election.
The bills, AB 2655, AB 2839, and AB 2355, target deceptive content in election campaigns. AB 2655 mandates that large platforms either block or label AI-generated “materially deceptive content related to elections” during a specific timeframe: from 120 days before an election to 60 days after. This law gives courts the authority to halt the spread of such content and impose civil penalties for non-compliance.
AB 2839 extends the window during which distributing election materials containing misleading AI-generated or manipulated content is prohibited. AB 2355 adds a requirement that all political ads featuring altered or AI-generated content must include a disclosure indicating that the content has been manipulated.
Newsom signed the bills during his appearance at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, where he discussed the impact of AI on California with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Addressing the need for these laws, Newsom stated, “Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation.” He emphasized the importance of combating deepfakes in today’s polarized political climate.
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who authored the deepfake ban, echoed the urgency of the measures, noting the growing threat of misleading, AI-altered content to elections.
The signing comes after Newsom’s pledge in July to tackle deepfakes in response to a video shared by X CEO Elon Musk, featuring manipulated images of Vice President Kamala Harris.
