Gov. Newsom Signs California AI Transparency Act to Restore Trust in Online Information
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, October 13, 2025
SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom today signed Assemblymember Buffy Wicks’ (D-Oakland) California AI Transparency Act (AB 853), a landmark measure to help Californians discern truth from fiction online by tackling the growing threat of AI-generated disinformation.
“Generative AI is reshaping our information ecosystem at breakneck speed, making it harder than ever to tell what’s real and what’s not,” said Leora Gershenzon, policy director at CITED. “We’re proud to have been a part of passing this new law that gives Californians tools to stem the tide of AI-generated disinformation, increase transparency about the source of information we see online, and rebuild trust in our information ecosystem and democracy.”
Sponsored by the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED), a project of California Common Cause, AB 853 builds on last year’s first-in-the-nation AI transparency law by ensuring both authentic, human-generated content and AI-generated content can be positively identified through industry-backed content provenance standards.
AB 853 will:
Enable recording devices to embed system identification information at the point of capture.
Require large online platforms to display provenance details about the origins and history of content.
Reduce the flood of unlabeled content circulating online by establishing a dual system for identifying both authentic and AI-generated material.
The California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED) was established to seek state-level solutions to the threats that disinformation, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies pose to our democracy, through a cross-disciplinary approach advised by leaders from civil rights and civic engagement, law and public policy, industry and tech, and more. It fights for a digital democracy that works for all. Learn more at https://cited.tech/.
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