Summary

Creates a federal program to develop standards, tools, and public guidance for identifying and tracking synthetic or AI‑modified digital content, and requires commercial AI creators and certain platforms to support tamper‑resistant content provenance metadata. The bill makes it illegal to knowingly remove or tamper with provenance to facilitate deceptive commercial practices and requires that companies obtain express consent from content owners before using provenance‑bearing material for AI training or synthetic generation. It directs NIST and an Under Secretary to lead a public‑private partnership, run research and education efforts, and coordinate competitions to improve watermarking and detection; gives enforcement authority to the FTC, state attorneys general, and some private rights holders; and preserves existing copyright protections. Key deadlines include a public education campaign within one year and the provenance/consent rules taking effect two years after enactment.

Key Points

• Requires commercial AI content‑creation tools and covered platforms to support tamper‑resistant content provenance metadata and prevent unlawful removal.
• Creates a public‑private partnership and directs NIST to run research and a public education campaign on synthetic content detection, watermarking, and provenance.
• Bars using provenance‑bearing content for commercial AI training or generation without the content owner’s express, informed consent and any owner terms (including compensation).
• Empowers the FTC to enforce the law, allows state attorneys general to sue on behalf of residents, and grants limited private rights of action (4‑year filing window).
• Defines key terms (synthetic content, deepfake, watermarking, covered platform) to set the law’s scope and compliance requirements.
• Includes a narrow security‑research exception and requires agency coordination with the Register of Copyrights, DARPA, and NSF for research and competitions.
• Explicitly preserves existing copyright rights and includes a severability clause so other provisions remain if part is invalidated.

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