AI disclosure · California · updated 8 October 2026

California AI Transparency Act: latent disclosures and a verification tool

Since 2 August 2026, a business whose generative AI system is publicly accessible in California has to embed a hidden disclosure in the images, video and audio it makes. Business and Professions Code § 22757.3(a) says: “To the extent it is technically feasible, a covered provider shall include a latent disclosure that meets all of the following criteria in any image, video, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, created or altered, except by minor modification, by the covered provider’s GenAI system:” (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 22757.3(a), applies from 2 August 2026). The chapter's own operative date is § 22757.6: “This chapter shall become operative on August 2, 2026.”

What the latent disclosure conveys

(A) The name of the covered provider.
(B) The name and version information of the GenAI system that created or altered the content.
(C) The time and date of the content’s creation or alteration.
(D) A unique identifier.
(E) Whether the GenAI system created or altered the content.

Directly or through a link to a permanent internet website, permanent or extraordinarily difficult to remove, compatible with the provider's verification tool, and compliant or interoperable with widely recognized industry standards (§ 22757.3(a)(1)–(4)). From 1 January 2029 it also says whether the system is designed to primarily function as assistive technology.

Who it covers

““Covered provider” means a person that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative artificial intelligence system that is publicly accessible within the geographic boundaries of the state.”

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 22757.1(e) · California AI Transparency Act, Business and Professions Code §§ 22757–22757.6 (SB 942 of 2024, as amended by AB 853 of 2025 and SB 1000 of 2026) · read 8 October 2026

SB 942 (Chapter 291, Statutes of 2024) applied only to systems with over 1,000,000 monthly visitors or users. SB 1000 (Chapter 861, Statutes of 2026), an urgency statute in effect since it was chaptered on 30 September 2026, deleted that threshold, dropped the duty to offer users a visible (manifest) disclosure, and added field (E). AB 853 (Chapter 674, Statutes of 2025) had moved the operative date to 2 August 2026 and added duties for platforms from 2027 (AB 853).

“Before January 1, 2029, this chapter does not apply to a GenAI system that is designed to primarily function as assistive technology.”

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 22757.5(b) · California AI Transparency Act, Business and Professions Code §§ 22757–22757.6 (SB 942 of 2024, as amended by AB 853 of 2025 and SB 1000 of 2026) · read 8 October 2026

A free verification tool

“A covered provider shall make available a disclosure verification tool at no cost to the user that meets all of the following criteria:”

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 22757.2(a), applies from 2 August 2026 · California AI Transparency Act, Business and Professions Code §§ 22757–22757.6 (SB 942 of 2024, as amended by AB 853 of 2025 and SB 1000 of 2026) · read 8 October 2026

Penalties

“A violator of this chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation to be collected in a civil action filed by the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel.”

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 22757.4(a)(1) · California AI Transparency Act, Business and Professions Code §§ 22757–22757.6 (SB 942 of 2024, as amended by AB 853 of 2025 and SB 1000 of 2026) · read 8 October 2026

“Each day that a covered provider, large online platform, or capture device manufacturer is in violation of this chapter shall be deemed a discrete violation.”

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 22757.4(b) · California AI Transparency Act, Business and Professions Code §§ 22757–22757.6 (SB 942 of 2024, as amended by AB 853 of 2025 and SB 1000 of 2026) · read 8 October 2026

Check a file

$ npx --allow-git=root github:agentwares/agent-disclosure output generated.mp4

Maps what the file's C2PA manifest shows to the five fields: the signer's certificate (A), the claim generator (B), the action time or signature time-stamp (C), the manifest label (D) and the action and digital source type (E). It reports what it sees; whether that meets § 22757.3 is a legal question.

A signed readiness report

The free checks print everything they find. The Article 50 readiness report ($49, one-time, no account) is the same checks for up to 10 URLs and 25 artefacts, dated and hash-signed, as PDF and JSON, to keep or hand over.

Keep a dated record of every check, and of every disclosure and marking you ship

okgate keeps every tool call your agents make in a hash-chained audit log with daily Merkle roots on a public page: 90 days on Pro ($99/month), 365 days with a compliance export on Team ($299/month).

A record of your disclosure and marking checks, kept the same way, is not built yet. I want that record