New York · Senate Bill · 2023–2024 Regular Session
SB7847
New York Senate Bill 7847 — An Act to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring publications to identify when the use of artificial intelligence is present within such publication

Status ● Failed Effective N/A Passage Likelihood N/A

WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE

How Is This Bill Enforced

Enforcement Authority
No enforcement mechanism, penalties, or private right of action specified in the bill text. The bill amends the General Business Law but does not designate an enforcing agency or create a cause of action.
Private Right of Action
No private right of action. Enforcement is exclusive to the designated authority.
Penalties
The bill specifies no penalties, damages, or remedies. Enforcement would presumably fall under general General Business Law enforcement authorities, but the bill itself is silent on consequences for non-compliance.

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(1)
Definition of generative artificial intelligence

(1) For 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 or 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; 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(1)" shall mean the use of machine learning technology, software, automation, and algorithms to perform tasks or 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; 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.

This subdivision defines generative artificial intelligence for the purposes of the labeling requirement in subdivision 2. The definition is unusually broad, encompassing not only generative AI in the conventional sense but virtually any machine learning system, automated decision system, neural network, intelligent agent, or technique that approximates a cognitive task. The five enumerated subcategories — (a) through (e) — collectively cover autonomous systems, human-like cognition systems, cognitive architectures, machine learning techniques, and rational agents.

The breadth of this definition means the labeling obligation would be triggered not only by content produced by large language models or image generators, but potentially by any content that involved algorithmic assistance in its composition or selection.

Gen. Bus. Law § 338(2)
AI content labeling requirement for publications
Publisher

(2) 1 Every newspaper, magazine or other publication printed or electronically published in this state, which contains an article, periodical, photograph, video or other visual image which was wholly or partially composed or authored 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 or 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; 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(1) or other information communication technology, shall conspicuously imprint on the top of the page or webpage of such publication that such article, periodical, photograph, video or other visual image was composed through the use of artificial intelligence or other information communication technology.

This subdivision imposes the bill's sole operative obligation: every newspaper, magazine, or other publication — whether printed or electronically published in New York — that contains an article, periodical, photograph, video, or other visual image composed wholly or partially through generative AI or other information communication technology must conspicuously imprint a disclosure at the top of the relevant page or webpage identifying that the content was composed through AI or other information communication technology.

The obligation runs to the publication itself rather than to a specifically defined covered entity class. The bill does not specify the exact wording of the required disclosure, only that it must be conspicuous and appear at the top of the page. Notably, the trigger includes content that was only partially composed through AI, which could implicate a wide range of editorial workflows that use AI-assisted tools.

Compliance actions 1 item
1
Publishers of newspapers, magazines, or other publications printed or electronically published in New York must conspicuously imprint at the top of any page or webpage a disclosure that an article, periodical, photograph, video, or other visual image was composed wholly or partially through generative AI or other information communication technology.
T-02.1
§ 2
Effective date

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

The act takes effect on the sixtieth day after it becomes law. As the bill has not been enacted, no effective date has been established.

Passage Likelihood

Failed
Status Failed
Final action REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

Legislative History

2024-01-03 REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

Entry Last Reviewed

2026-05-20
AI generated