"AI Image Disclosure Act"; concerns disclosure of certain AI-generated content.

A5089

ASSEMBLY, No. 5089

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 14, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� ANDREW MACURDY

District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� �AI Image Disclosure Act�; concerns disclosure of
certain AI-generated content.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning generative artificial intelligence
and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the �AI Image Disclosure Act.�

���� 2.��� As used in
P.L. , c.
(C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill):�

���� �Artificial
intelligence-generated content� or �AI-generated content� means an image, a
video, or audio content, or any combination thereof, that is created or altered
using a generative artificial intelligence system.

���� �Covered provider� means a
sole proprietorship, a limited liability company, a corporation, an
association, or any other legal entity that creates, codes, or otherwise
produces a GenAI system that is publicly accessible within the geographic
boundaries of this State and excludes any product, service, Internet website,
or application that provides exclusively non-user-generated video game,
television, streaming, movie, or interactive experiences.

���� �Covered social media company�
means a person or entity that provides or operates a social media platform with
at least five million account holders worldwide.

���� �
Generative
artificial intelligence system� or �GenAI system� means a technology system
that is trained on data and can generate derived synthetic content, including
text, images, video, and audio, that emulates the structure and characteristics
of the system�s training data.

���� �Licensee� means a sole
proprietorship, a limited liability company, a corporation, an association, or
any other legal entity that licenses a GenAI system from a covered provider.

���� �Metadata� means structured
reference data that helps to sort and identify attributes of the information it
describes.

���� �Personal data� has the same
meaning as defined in section 1 of P.L.2023, c.266 (C.56:8-166.4).

���� �Provenance data� means data
that provides a historical record of content that details the content�s origins
by capturing the content�s metadata.

���� �Social media platform� means
a public or semi-public Internet-based service or application that has account
holders in this State, which service or application: allows account holders to
construct a public or semi-public profile for the purposes of using the
platform, populate a list of other account holders with whom the account holder
shares a social connection through the platform, and post content viewable by
other account holders or users of the platform; and is designed to connect
account holders within the platform to facilitate social interactions, except
that a service or application that provides e-mail or direct messaging services
shall not be considered to meet this criterion solely based on the existence of
that functionality.� �Social media platform� shall not include a service or
application that consists primarily of news, sports, entertainment, e-commerce,
or other content that is not user-generated but is preselected by the provider
and for which any chat, comments, or interactive functionality is incidental
to, directly related to, or dependent on the provision of the content, or

�news
media� as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c.253 (C.2A:84A-21a).

���� 3.��� a.� A covered provider
shall include a manifest disclosure in any AI-generated content.� A manifest
disclosure required pursuant to this subsection shall:�

���� (1)�� identify the content as
AI-generated content;

���� (2)�� be clear, conspicuous,
appropriate for the medium of the content, and understandable to a reasonable
person; and

���� (3)�� be permanent or
extraordinarily difficult to remove, to the extent technically feasible.

���� b.��� A covered provider shall
include a latent disclosure in any AI-generated content.� A latent disclosure
required pursuant to this subsection shall:�

���� (1)�� not be visible or
audible;

���� (2)�� convey, either directly
or through a link to a permanent Internet website:�

���� (a)�� the name of the covered
provider;

���� (b)�� the name and version of
the GenAI system that created or altered the content; and

���� (c)�� the time and date of the
content�s creation or alteration;

���� (3)�� be permanent or
extraordinarily difficult to remove, to the extent technically feasible;

���� (4)�� be compliant or
interoperable with widely accepted industry standards; and

���� (5)�� be easily accessible.� A
covered provider shall ensure that a latent disclosure is easily accessible by publishing
on the covered provider�s Internet website instructions on how to access the disclosure,
and, if necessary, by publishing a free Internet website or application that
can extract and display the disclosure from the content.

���� c.���� (1) A covered
provider�s licensing agreement with a licensee shall require the licensee to maintain
the GenAI system�s capability to include a latent disclosure as required by
subsection b. of this section.

���� (2)�� A licensee shall not
remove or prevent the GenAI system from including a latent disclosure as
required by subsection b. of this section.

���� (3)�� If the covered provider
has actual knowledge that a licensee has violated paragraph (2) of this
subsection, the covered provider shall revoke the licensing agreement with the
licensee within 96 hours of obtaining actual knowledge.� The licensee shall
immediately cease using a licensed GenAI system upon revocation of the
licensing agreement.

���� d.��� A covered provider shall
provide users of the covered provider�s GenAI system the option to include in
the latent disclosure personal data about the user, only if the user expressly
consents after being presented with a clear and conspicuous notice that informs
the user that the personal information:�

���� (1)�� will be easily
accessible to anyone who views the content containing the latent disclosure;

���� (2)�� will become part of the
content�s permanent digital footprint; and

���� (3)�� cannot be retracted from
content already in circulation.

���� e.���� (1)� A covered provider
that violates the provisions of this section shall be liable for a civil
penalty in the amount of $5,000 for each violation, which penalty shall be
collected by the Attorney General in a summary proceeding before a court of
competent jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of the �Penalty Enforcement
Law of 1999,� P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).

���� (2)�� The Attorney General may
bring a civil action for injunctive relief against a licensee who violates the
provisions of this section or any rules, regulations, or orders promulgated
thereunder.

���� (3)�� Each day that a covered
provider or licensee is in violation of the provisions of this section shall be
deemed a separate violation.

���� (4)�� A prevailing plaintiff
in an action brought pursuant to this subsection shall be entitled to all
reasonable attorney�s costs and fees.

���� 4.��� a.� It shall be unlawful
to make available in this State a system, application, tool, or service that is
designed for the primary purpose of:�

���� (1)�� removing or editing
latent disclosures applied pursuant to section 3 of
P.L. , c.
(C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill); or

���� (2)�� adding a latent
disclosure to content that was not created or altered using a GenAI system.

���� b.��� An individual or entity
that violates subsection a. of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty
in the amount of $5,000 for each violation, which penalty shall be collected by
the Attorney General in a summary proceeding before a court of competent
jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of the �Penalty Enforcement Law of
1999,� P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).

���� 5.��� a.� A covered social
media company shall use a label to disclose any machine-readable provenance
data detected in content distributed on the covered social media company�s
social media platform that indicates whether the content was created or altered
using a general artificial intelligence system.

���� b.��� A covered social media
company shall not:�

���� (1)�� delete or otherwise
remove any provenance data or digital signature from content uploaded or
distributed on the covered social media company�s social media platform; or

���� (2)�� retain any personal data
acquired through provenance data from content shared on the covered social
media company�s social media platform.

���� c.���� A covered social media
company that violates subsection a. of this section shall be liable for a civil
penalty in the amount of $5,000 for each violation, which penalty shall be
collected by the Attorney General in a summary proceeding before a court of competent
jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of the �Penalty Enforcement Law of
1999,� P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).

���� 6.��� The Attorney General may
adopt, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement
the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� 7.��� This act shall take
effect on February 1 of the calendar year next following the date of
enactment.� Section 3 of this act shall apply to licensing agreements entered
into on or after the effective date of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill, designated the �AI
Image Disclosure Act,� requires a covered provider to include a manifest
disclosure and a latent disclosure in any image, video, or audio content, or in
any combination thereof, created or altered by the covered provider�s generative
artificial intelligence system (GenAI system).

���� Under the bill, a manifest
disclosure is required to:� (1) identify the content as AI-generated content;
(2) be clear, conspicuous, appropriate for the medium of the content, and
understandable to a reasonable person; and (3) be permanent or extraordinarily
difficult to remove, to the extent technically feasible.� A latent disclosure
is required to:� (1) not be visible or audible; (2) convey the name of the
covered provider, name and version of the GenAI system that created or altered
the content, the time and date of the content�s creation or alteration; (3) be
permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove, to the extent technically
feasible; (4) be compliant or interoperable with widely accepted industry
standards; and (5) be easily accessible.

���� The bill also requires covered
providers that license a GenAI system to a third party (licensee) to:� (1)
require the licensee, by licensing agreement, to maintain the GenAI system�s
capability to include a latent disclosure; and (2) prohibit the licensee from
preventing a licensed GenAI system from including a latent disclosure.� Under
the bill, a covered provider is required to revoke the licensing agreement with
the licensee within 96 hours of obtaining actual knowledge that the licensee
prevented the GenAI system from including a latent disclosure.� The bill
requires the licensee to immediately cease using a licensed GenAI system upon
revocation of the licensing agreement.� Additionally, the bill requires a
covered provider to give users the option to include personal data about the
user, but only if the user expressly consents after being presented with a clear
and conspicuous notice that informs the user that the personal information will
be easily accessible to any viewer and the information will become part of the
file�s permanent digital footprint and cannot be retracted from copies already
in circulation.

���� The bill also requires a
covered social media company, as that term is defined in the bill, to use a
label to disclose any machine-readable provenance data, as that term is defined
in the bill, detected in content distributed on the covered social media
company�s social media platform that identifies the content as AI-generated.�
Under the bill, a covered social media company is prohibited from deleting or
otherwise removing any provenance data or digital signature from content
uploaded or distributed on the covered social media company�s social media
platform or retaining any personal data acquired through provenance data from
content shared on the covered social media company�s social media platform.

The bill also prohibits making
available in this State a system, application, tool, or service that is
designed for the primary purpose of removing or editing latent disclosures or
adding a latent disclosure to content that was not created or altered using a
GenAI system.� The bill also provides certain penalties for entities that
violate certain provisions of the bill.