New York synthetic performer ad law and AI avatar ads

New York bill S8420A requires a person who produces an advertisement for a commercial purpose, with actual knowledge that a synthetic performer appears in it, to disclose that conspicuously in the ad. Penalties are $1,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for each later one. Whether an AI avatar presenter counts depends on the definition below, but if it does, the ad needs a visible line.

This summarizes the bill text as read 2026-09-30 and is not legal advice.

What does the bill define as a synthetic performer?

A digitally created asset created, reproduced or modified by computer using generative AI or a software algorithm, designed to appear as a human performance when the performer is not recognizable as a real person. The disclosure must appear in the advertisement itself, across all media.

Is an avatar video a synthetic performer?

Sume Avatar Videos turn a ready avatar into a "script-driven talking video", and an avatar can be created from a prompt, a profile or a reference image. A presenter made that way is generated, so check it against the definition above. If the avatar is a recognizable real person, the bill's wording is about performers who are not, so your question is different; take advice on that case.

How do I add a disclosure line to the ad?

Two routes. For an avatar video, the optional captions object burns styles into the clean final MP4 after generation, using the spoken script, which is a transcript of speech and not a disclosure. For a fixed line, send the finished MP4 to POST /v1/video-captions with cues: text plus start and end, which "burns exactly that copy at those times" with no speech-to-text. Set the cue to span the whole ad, and place it so it reads as conspicuous. See Video captions.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-captions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: synthetic-performer-001" \
  -d '{
    "video_url": "https://example.com/avatar-ad.mp4",
    "style": "black-outline",
    "cues": [
      { "text": "Synthetic performer in this ad", "start": 0, "end": 15 }
    ]
  }'

What about translated or audio-only ads?

The bill exempts audio ads and language translation uses, so a voice-only spot is outside the on-screen question. For comparison with another regime, see EU AI Act Article 50 labeling.