Federal · Senate Bill · 119th Congress
SB5135
AI Ads Act, S. 5135, 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), which is administered and enforced by the Federal Election Commission. Enforcement of the fraudulent-misrepresentation and fraudulent-solicitation prohibitions runs through the existing FECA enforcement framework; the bill adds no new private cause of action.
Private Right of Action
No private right of action. Enforcement is exclusive to the designated authority.
Penalties
The bill specifies no new penalties. Remedies flow through the existing FECA enforcement scheme for violations of 52 U.S.C. 30124.

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
52 U.S.C. 30124(a)(1), (b)(1) (FECA § 322)
Use of Generative AI Content as Fraudulent Misrepresentation
Publisher

2(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);''.

2(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 FECA § 322 (52 U.S.C. 30124) to state expressly that the existing prohibitions against fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority and fraudulent solicitation of funds cover misrepresentation accomplished through the use of content generated in whole or in part with the use of artificial intelligence (generative AI). For product counsel, the key point is that this is a scope clarification of a pre-existing fraud prohibition, not a new AI-specific labeling, disclosure, or governance duty. Political actors who generate campaign content with AI are on notice that doing so does not shield fraudulent misrepresentation from FECA liability.

Because the operative change simply confirms that generative-AI content is one vector for conduct already unlawful, it imposes no affirmative build-and-ship obligation of the kind captured by the compliance taxonomy. The practical instruction is negative — do not use generative AI to fraudulently misrepresent campaign authority or to fraudulently solicit funds.

Compliance actions 1 item
1
Persons must not use content generated in whole or in part with generative AI to fraudulently misrepresent campaign authority or to fraudulently solicit funds in connection with a federal election.
CP-01.6
52 U.S.C. 30124(a), (b)(1) (FECA § 322)
Extension of Fraudulent Misrepresentation Prohibition to Any Person

3(a)(1)-(2) 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''.

3(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 FECA § 322's fraudulent-misrepresentation and fraudulent-solicitation prohibitions along two axes: it removes the requirement that the actor be a candidate for Federal office or an employee or agent of such a candidate, extending the prohibition to any person, and it expands the class of protected targets from another candidate or political party to any candidate, political party, or other real or fictitious political committee or organization.

This section is a non-AI structural amendment to the underlying election-fraud statute. It broadens who can be liable and whom the prohibition protects, but contains no AI-specific language and imposes no new AI-related compliance duty. It is retained here only because it modifies the same fraud prohibition that Section 2's generative-AI clarification attaches to.

Passage Likelihood

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

Legislative History

2026-07-27 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Entry Last Reviewed

2026-08-05
AI generated