New York · Senate Bill · 2025-2026 Regular Sessions
SB1815
New York Senate Bill 1815 — An Act to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring publishers of books created with the use of generative artificial intelligence to contain a disclosure of such use

Status ● Introduced Effective N/A Passage Likelihood L

WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE

How Is This Bill Enforced

Enforcement Authority
No enforcement mechanism, private right of action, or penalties are specified in the bill text. The bill amends the General Business Law, which is generally enforced by the New York Attorney General under existing authority.
Private Right of Action
No private right of action. Enforcement is exclusive to the designated authority.
Penalties
The bill does not specify any penalties, damages, or remedies. Enforcement would presumably fall under the New York Attorney General's general enforcement authority over the General Business Law.

What This Bill Requires

Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.

Statutory Text
Analysis & Obligations
Gen. Bus. Law § 338
Publishing of books; generative artificial intelligence disclosure
Publisher

(1) 1 Any book that was wholly or partially created through the use of generative artificial intelligenceGenerative artificial intelligence"generative artificial intelligence" shall mean the use of machine learning technology, software, automation, and algorithms to perform tasks, to make rules and/or predictions based on existing data sets and instructions, including, but not limited to: (a) Any artificial system that performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve performance when exposed to data sets; (b) An artificial system developed in computer software, physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action; (c) An artificial system designed to think or act like a human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks; (d) A set of techniques, including machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task; and/or (e) An artificial system designed to act rationally, including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communicating, decision making, and acting.Gen. Bus. Law § 338(3), published in this state, shall conspicuously disclose upon the cover of the book, that such book was created with the use of generative artificial intelligenceGenerative artificial intelligence"generative artificial intelligence" shall mean the use of machine learning technology, software, automation, and algorithms to perform tasks, to make rules and/or predictions based on existing data sets and instructions, including, but not limited to: (a) Any artificial system that performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve performance when exposed to data sets; (b) An artificial system developed in computer software, physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action; (c) An artificial system designed to think or act like a human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks; (d) A set of techniques, including machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task; and/or (e) An artificial system designed to act rationally, including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communicating, decision making, and acting.Gen. Bus. Law § 338(3).

(2) 1 Books subject to the provisions of this section shall include, but not be limited to, all printed and digital books, regardless of such books' target age group or audience, consisting of text, pictures, audio, puzzles, games or any combination thereof.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "generative artificial intelligenceGenerative artificial intelligence"generative artificial intelligence" shall mean the use of machine learning technology, software, automation, and algorithms to perform tasks, to make rules and/or predictions based on existing data sets and instructions, including, but not limited to: (a) Any artificial system that performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve performance when exposed to data sets; (b) An artificial system developed in computer software, physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action; (c) An artificial system designed to think or act like a human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks; (d) A set of techniques, including machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task; and/or (e) An artificial system designed to act rationally, including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communicating, decision making, and acting.Gen. Bus. Law § 338(3)" shall mean the use of machine learning technology, software, automation, and algorithms to perform tasks, to make rules and/or predictions based on existing data sets and instructions, including, but not limited to: (a) Any artificial system that performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve performance when exposed to data sets; (b) An artificial system developed in computer software, physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action; (c) An artificial system designed to think or act like a human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks; (d) A set of techniques, including machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task; and/or (e) An artificial system designed to act rationally, including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communicating, decision making, and acting.

Section 338 creates a single core obligation: any book published in New York that was wholly or partially created through the use of generative artificial intelligence must conspicuously disclose that fact on the cover. Subsection 2 clarifies the scope — all printed and digital books, regardless of target age group or audience, consisting of text, pictures, audio, puzzles, games, or any combination. Subsection 3 provides a sweeping definition of generative artificial intelligence that encompasses virtually all machine learning systems.

The bill does not define who bears the disclosure obligation using a formal covered-entity term — the duty is imposed on the book itself ("shall conspicuously disclose upon the cover"), which in practice falls on the publisher or person who causes the book to be published in the state. No penalties, enforcement authority, or private right of action are specified.

Compliance actions 1 item
1
Publishers of any book published in New York that was wholly or partially created through the use of generative artificial intelligenceGenerative artificial intelligence"generative artificial intelligence" shall mean the use of machine learning technology, software, automation, and algorithms to perform tasks, to make rules and/or predictions based on existing data sets and instructions, including, but not limited to: (a) Any artificial system that performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve performance when exposed to data sets; (b) An artificial system developed in computer software, physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action; (c) An artificial system designed to think or act like a human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks; (d) A set of techniques, including machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task; and/or (e) An artificial system designed to act rationally, including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communicating, decision making, and acting.Gen. Bus. Law § 338(3) must conspicuously disclose on the cover of the book that it was created with the use of generative artificial intelligenceGenerative artificial intelligence"generative artificial intelligence" shall mean the use of machine learning technology, software, automation, and algorithms to perform tasks, to make rules and/or predictions based on existing data sets and instructions, including, but not limited to: (a) Any artificial system that performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve performance when exposed to data sets; (b) An artificial system developed in computer software, physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action; (c) An artificial system designed to think or act like a human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks; (d) A set of techniques, including machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task; and/or (e) An artificial system designed to act rationally, including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communicating, decision making, and acting.Gen. Bus. Law § 338(3). This applies to all printed and digital books regardless of target age group or audience, including books consisting of text, pictures, audio, puzzles, games, or any combination thereof.
T-02.1
NY SB 1815 § 2
Effective date

This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.

Section 2 establishes that the act takes effect on the sixtieth day after it becomes law. No specific calendar date is set because the bill has not been enacted.

Passage Likelihood

Low
Status Introduced
Chamber No passage
Committee No action
Majority party Yes
Bipartisan No
Prior session None

Legislative History

2025-01-14 REFERRED TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY
2026-01-07 REFERRED TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY
2026-04-01 REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

Entry Last Reviewed

2026-05-20
AI generated