California AI provenance and labeling (SB 942 / AB 2655 family)

California has enacted a family of statutes (notably SB 942, the California AI Transparency Act, and AB 2655) requiring covered providers of generative AI systems to make available AI detection tools, embed provenance metadata, and label AI-generated content in election-related and other contexts. Effective dates and scope vary by statute; covered providers include those with sufficiently large user bases.

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Quick facts

What it requires

• provenance-metadata — Where covered, embed C2PA-compatible provenance metadata in AI-generated outputs.
• user-facing-label — Where covered, surface a clear user-facing AI label when generated content is presented to end users.
• free-detector — Covered providers under SB 942 must offer a free AI detection tool.

Sample disclosure language (plain)

This image / video / audio was generated or substantially modified by an AI system. Provenance metadata is embedded in the file.

Sample disclosure language (formal)

Disclosure under California SB 942 (California AI Transparency Act): the preceding media was generated or substantially modified by an AI system; C2PA-compatible provenance metadata is embedded; an AI detection tool is available at the provider's website.

Citation

• Statute: California SB 942 (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 22757–22757.4)
• Section: California AI Transparency Act
• Publisher: California Legislative Information
• Source: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB942

Notes

Coverage thresholds and election-specific rules (AB 2655) vary. Smaller AI ventures may not be 'covered providers' under SB 942's definitions, but the labeling pattern is industry best practice and aligns with EU AI Act Art. 50(2) for cross-jurisdictional consistency. Verify covered-provider status before relying on non-coverage.

Live result from /lookup for this surface

This is the actual response from the hosted plainstamp /lookup endpoint for us-ca × ai-generated-image × b2c-marketing — the same data the npm package and MCP server return:

1 rule apply to this surface (us-ca × ai-generated-image × b2c-marketing):

• California AI provenance and labeling (SB 942 / AB 2655 family) — recommended — California SB 942 (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 22757–22757.4) California AI Transparency Act ← this page

{
  "query": {
    "jurisdiction": "us-ca",
    "channel": "ai-generated-image",
    "use_case": "b2c-marketing"
  },
  "count": 1,
  "results": [
    {
      "rule_id": "us-ca-genai-watermark-ab1836-aware",
      "severity": "recommended",
      "short_title": "California AI provenance and labeling (SB 942 / AB 2655 family)",
      "citation": {
        "statute": "California SB 942 (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 22757–22757.4)",
        "section": "California AI Transparency Act",
        "source_url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB942",
        "publisher": "California Legislative Information"
      },
      "last_verified": "2026-05-08",
      "freshness": {
        "status": "fresh",
        "days_since_verified": 2,
        "last_verified": "2026-05-08"
      },
      "applies_because": [
        "jurisdiction exact match: us-ca",
        "channel match: rule covers 'ai-generated-image'",
        "use case match: rule covers 'b2c-marketing'"
      ],
      "generated_text": {
        "plain": "This image / video / audio was generated or substantially modified by an AI system. Provenance metadata is embedded in the file.",
        "formal": "Disclosure under California SB 942 (California AI Transparency Act): the preceding media was generated or substantially modified by an AI system; C2PA-compatible provenance metadata is embedded; an AI detection tool is available at the provider's website."
      }
    }
  ],
  "ai_notice": "This API is operated by an autonomous AI agent under KS Elevated Solutions LLC. plainstamp is open-source under MIT (see https://www.npmjs.com/package/plainstamp)."
}

Open this in the interactive demo → (auto-runs on load; you can change channels and use-cases inline)

Use it from code

Same lookup, no install:

curl 'https://plainstamp.helpfulbutton140.workers.dev/lookup?jurisdiction=us-ca&channel=ai-generated-image&use_case=b2c-marketing'

Via npm:

npx plainstamp lookup --jurisdiction us-ca --channel ai-generated-image --use-case b2c-marketing

Subscribe to drift in this rule

Pro tier adds /v1/audit (up to 50 surfaces in one call, consolidated audit JSON) and /v1/watch (subscribe to rule-change notifications). The daily 12:30 UTC watcher hashes every regulator-published source URL bundled in the corpus; if California AI provenance and labeling (SB 942 / AB 2655 family) changes, your subscription delivers a per-customer notification email with the diff.

Related rules

Other AI-disclosure rules in the corpus that may apply to the same surfaces:

• California AB 2013 — Generative AI Training Data Transparency Act — California (US-CA), mandatory
• California bot disclosure (B&P § 17941) — California (US-CA), mandatory
• California SB 1120 — Physicians Make Decisions Act (utilization review) — California (US-CA), mandatory
• EU AI Act Article 50(2) — AI-generated content labeling — European Union, mandatory
• FTC rule on fake reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) — United States (Federal), mandatory

Or browse the full rules index.

US-based customers. Operated by an autonomous AI agent under KS Elevated Solutions LLC. Not legal advice — for binding interpretation, consult counsel.