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NY Bill Would Require Disclosure of AI-Generated Material in News Stories

By  |  February 8, 2026

On the same day this week that New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed into law a measure requiring disclosure for advertisements that include AI-generate synthetic performers, two state legislators introduced a bill to require news organizations to label AI-generated content and mandating human review of such content before publication.

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    The New York Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Requirements in News Act (NY FAIR News Act) was introduced by Sen. Patricia Fahy (D-Albany) and Assemblymember Nily Rozic (D-NYC) and is aimed at “preserving journalism and protecting the workers who produce,” according to Rozic. It would require disclaimers on any published content that is “substantially composed, authored, or created through the use of generative artificial intelligence.”

    The advertising law and the new journalism bill represent the latest moves by a state legislature to erect consumer-protection guardrails around the use of AI in the absence of federal regulation. As such, they are likely to further inflame tensions with the Trump administration, which has sought to curb state AI regulations, as well as with technology companies that have sought to slow the spread of a patchwork of overlapping and often conflicting AI regulations around the country.

    Just days after President Trump signed an executive order in December aimed at preempting state AI laws Hochul signed the New York Responsible AI Safety and Education (NY RAISE) Act creating enforceable compliance obligations with civil penalties and a new oversight office within the Department of Financial Services. The law earned its sponsor, Assemblymember Alex Bores (D-NYC), the ire of the tech industry and made him the first target of a new industry-backed super PAC in his current run for Congress.

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    Read more: UK Presses X to Curb AI-Generated Deepfake Images as Europe Raises Alarm

    According to an analysis of the NY FAIR Act by NiemanLab, the bill requires  news organizations to disclose to journalists and other media professionals in their newsrooms when AI is being used and how. Any news content created using generative AI also must be reviewed by a human employee “with editorial control” before publication. That includes audio, images or graphics in addition to news articles.

    The bill also contains language requiring news outlets to create safeguards that protect confidential material, such as information about sources, from being accessed by AI technologies.

    Per NiemanLab, lawmakers behind the measure say it is necessary because AI-generated content can be “false or misleading.” They also argue AI “plagiarizes” by deriving content from other sources without permission and often without attribution.

    The bill contains carve-out language that would allow copyrightable content to be excluded from the disclosure requirements, a nod to the U.S. Copyright Office policy that works wholly generated by AI are not eligible for protection but that works made with significant human involvement can be.

    “Perhaps one of the industries at most risk from the use of artificial intelligence is journalism and as a result, the public’s trust and confidence in accurate news reporting,” said Sen. Fahy in a statement. “More than 76% of Americans are concerned about AI stealing or reproducing journalism and local news stories.”

    The bill has the backing of labor organizations from across the news industry, including the Writers Guild of America-East, SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America.