United States of America: Introduced Act relating to Artificial Intelligence Technology (SB 970)

On 25 January 2024, an Act relating to Artificial Intelligence Technology (SB 970) was introduced into the California Legislature. The Act aims to address the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic voice, video, and image recordings. According to the Act, sellers or providers of artificial intelligence technology capable of producing synthetic images or voices must provide a consumer warning of the potential civil or criminal consequences of misuse. The Act seeks to extend civil protections against the unauthorised use of someone's identity to synthetic likenesses perceived as real. Furthermore, it requires the Judicial Council to establish procedures for screening synthetic records presented as evidence to preserve the integrity of legal evidence. The Department of Consumer Affairs is responsible for enforcing consumer warnings about the potential legal consequences of misusing AI technologies, with penalties for non-compliance.