CA SB 942
California AI Transparency Act (CAITA)
Requires every person that produces a generative AI system publicly accessible in California to offer a free disclosure verification tool and to embed latent provenance disclosures in AI-created or AI-altered image, video and audio content. SB 1000 removed the former 1,000,000-monthly-user threshold with effect from September 30, 2026; large online platforms carry provenance display duties from January 1, 2027.
Jurisdiction
California
Enacted
Sep 19, 2024
Effective
Aug 2, 2026
Enforcement
California AG, city attorneys, or county counsel
Signed September 19, 2024 (Stats. 2024, Ch. 291). Original operative date of January 1, 2026 was extended to August 2, 2026 by AB 853 (Stats. 2025, Ch. 674, Sec. 6). Amended by SB 1000 (Stats. 2026, Ch. 861), an urgency statute approved and in effect September 30, 2026, and by AB 2713 (Stats. 2026, Ch. 856), approved September 30, 2026, which rewrites the large online platform duties operative January 1, 2027.
CA LegislatureWhy It Matters
Mandates machine-readable provenance for AI-generated and AI-altered media, paired with a free public verification tool. Since September 30, 2026 the duties reach every publicly accessible generative AI system in California regardless of size, where the original act reached only providers above 1 million monthly users.
Recent Developments
SB 1000 (Chapter 861, Statutes of 2026), an urgency statute approved and in effect September 30, 2026, deleted the 1,000,000-monthly-user threshold from the definition of covered provider, renamed the AI detection tool a disclosure verification tool, removed the duty to offer users an optional manifest disclosure, added to the latent disclosure whether the system created or altered the content, excluded systems designed primarily to function as assistive technology until January 1, 2029, and added a $50,000 penalty for falsely claiming that exclusion. It also provides that an action filed before its effective date cannot be maintained over conduct that does not violate the amended chapter. AB 2713 (Chapter 856, Statutes of 2026), approved the same day, rewrote the large online platform provenance duties in section 22757.3.1, operative January 1, 2027. Earlier, AB 853 (2025) moved the operative date from January 1, 2026 to August 2, 2026.
At a Glance
Applies to
Harms addressed
Requires
Who Must Comply
- Covered providers: any person that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative AI system publicly accessible in California (no user threshold since September 30, 2026)
- Third-party licensees of covered GenAI systems
- Large online platforms with more than 2,000,000 unique monthly users (from January 1, 2027)
Obligations fall on:
Applicability thresholds:
Safety Provisions
- Free disclosure verification tool (called an AI detection tool before SB 1000) that reports whether content was created or altered by the provider system and outputs any detected system provenance data
- Latent disclosures in AI-created or AI-altered image, video and audio content giving the provider name, system name and version, time and date, a unique identifier, and whether the system created or altered the content
- Licensors must notify licensees of their obligations and, on learning that a licensee modified a system out of compliance, terminate its authorization or notify it within 72 hours; the licensee must comply or stop and report within 96 hours, and unresolved cases go to the Attorney General
- Collection of user feedback on verification tool efficacy
- From January 1, 2027, large online platforms must detect provenance data, show users whether content was generated or substantially altered by a GenAI system or captured by a capture device, let users inspect system provenance data, and not knowingly strip it
Exemptions
Entertainment Content
Video game, television, streaming, movie, or interactive experiences (non-user-generated)
- • Entertainment content
- • Not user-generated
Text-Only Outputs
Text-only outputs excluded from disclosure requirements
- • Text-only output
- • No image/video/audio
Compliance & Enforcement
Key Dates
Aug 2, 2026
All provisions become operative (date extended from original January 1, 2026 by AB 853)
Free AI detection tool must be available
Latent disclosure (watermark/metadata) requirements begin
Sep 30, 2026
SB 1000 urgency amendments take effect: user threshold removed, disclosure verification tool replaces AI detection tool, optional manifest disclosure duty deleted
Jan 1, 2027
Large online platform provenance duties (section 22757.3.1 as amended by AB 2713) become operative
Jan 1, 2029
Assistive-technology exclusion ends; latent disclosures must also state whether a system is designed primarily as assistive technology
Penalties
$5K/violation
View on map
California
Focus Areas
Cite This
APA
California. (2024). California AI Transparency Act (CAITA).
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Last updated October 4, 2026. Verify against primary sources before relying on this information.