Federal · House Bill · 119th Congress
HB9985
AI Ads Act, H.R. 9985, 119th Congress (2d Session)

Status ● Introduced Effective N/A Passage Likelihood L

WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE

How Is This Bill Enforced

Enforcement Authority
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30124). Enforcement runs through FECA's existing civil and criminal enforcement framework administered by the Federal Election Commission and, for criminal matters, the Department of Justice. The bill adds no new enforcement mechanism of its own.
Private Right of Action
No private right of action. Enforcement is exclusive to the designated authority.
Penalties
The bill specifies no new remedies. Violations are subject to the pre-existing civil and criminal penalties available under the Federal Election Campaign Act for fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority and fraudulent solicitation of funds.

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
AI Ads Act § 2 (amending 52 U.S.C. 30124(a)(1), (b)(1))
Use of AI-Generated Content as Fraudulent Misrepresentation
Publisher

(a) 1 FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION.—Section 322(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30124(a)(1)) is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the following: '', including through the use of content generated in whole or in part with the use of artificial intelligence (generative AI);''.

(b) 1 FRAUDULENT SOLICITATION OF FUNDS.—Section 322(b)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30124(b)(1)) is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the following: '', including through the use of content generated in whole or in part with the use of artificial intelligence (generative AI);''.

Section 2 amends the Federal Election Campaign Act's fraudulent-misrepresentation and fraudulent-solicitation prohibitions (52 U.S.C. 30124(a)(1) and (b)(1)) to make explicit that these bans reach misrepresentation accomplished through content generated in whole or in part with the use of artificial intelligence (generative AI). The change is a clarifying insertion rather than a new operative rule — it confirms that AI-generated deepfakes, synthetic voice, or other generative outputs used to fraudulently misrepresent campaign authority or to fraudulently solicit funds are already covered conduct.

For product counsel, the practical effect is that generative-AI outputs used to impersonate political committees or candidates in fundraising or authority contexts are squarely within the scope of existing federal election-fraud liability. The provision imposes no affirmative labeling, disclosure, or compliance-program duty on AI developers or platforms; it operates on the persons who misrepresent, and the AI-generation clause is a scope clarification within an existing fraud prohibition.

Compliance actions 1 item
1
No person may fraudulently misrepresent campaign authority or fraudulently solicit funds using content generated in whole or in part with generative AI, including AI-generated impersonation of a candidate, party, or committee.
CP-01.5
AI Ads Act § 3 (amending 52 U.S.C. 30124(a), (b)(1))
Extending the Fraudulent-Misrepresentation Prohibition to Any Person and Any Purpose

(a) FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION.—Section 322(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30124(a)) is amended— (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ''who is a candidate for Federal office or an employee or agent of such a candidate''; and (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ''any other candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof on a matter which is damaging to such other candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof'' and inserting ''any candidate, political party, or other real or fictitious political committee or organization, or employee or agent of such a candidate, political party, or political committee or organization''.

(b) FRAUDULENT SOLICITATION OF FUNDS.—Section 322(b)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30124(b)(1)) is amended by striking ''any candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof'' and inserting ''any candidate, political party, or other real or fictitious political committee or organization, or employee or agent of such a candidate, political party, or political committee or organization''.

Section 3 broadens the underlying FECA prohibition that Section 2 clarifies. It strikes the requirement that the speaker be a candidate for federal office or a candidate's employee or agent, and it strikes the requirement that the target be another candidate or party on a matter damaging to that target. In their place it substitutes coverage of misrepresentation of any candidate, political party, or other real or fictitious political committee or organization, by any person for any purpose.

This section contains no AI-specific text — it is a general expansion of the election-fraud prohibition's scope. It is retained here because it defines the reach of the prohibition to which the Section 2 generative-AI clarification attaches, materially widening who can be liable and whom they can be liable for impersonating.

Passage Likelihood

Low
Status Introduced
Chamber No passage
Committee No action
Majority party (No data)
Bipartisan No
Prior session None

Legislative History

2026-07-30 Introduced in House
2026-07-30 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

Entry Last Reviewed

2026-08-05
AI generated