On October 13, the governor of California signed into law AB 853 to amend the compliance date of the California AI Transparency Act and add new provisions affecting large online platforms. The act delayed the effective date of the AI Transparency Act from January 1, 2026, to August 2, 2026. The amended law requires covered providers that create, code or produce a generative AI system to provide a free AI detection tool to assist users in determining whether media content was created or altered by the provider’s generative AI system and outputs any system source data detected in the content.
Beginning January 1, 2027, the law requires large online platforms — defined as public-facing social media, file-sharing, mass messaging platforms, or stand-alone search engines that distribute content to users who did not create the content that exceeded 2 million unique monthly users during the preceding 12 months — to detect whether source data compliant with widely adopted standards is embedded in or attached to distributed content. These platforms must provide users with a latent disclosure indicating whether content was generated or altered by a GenAI system. Further, starting January 1, 2028, capture device manufacturers must offer users the option to include a latent disclosure in content captured by devices first produced for sale in California on or after that date. This disclosure must convey the manufacturer’s name, device name and version, and the time and date of content creation or alteration.
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