OpenAI, Adobe and Microsoft are backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, according to a letter from the companies seen by TechCrunch. The bill is due for a final vote in August.
AB 3211 requires watermarking the metadata of AI-generated photos, videos, and audio clips. Many AI companies already do this, but most people don't read metadata. AB 3211 also requires large online platforms like Instagram and X to label AI-generated content in a way that the average viewer can understand.
OpenAI, Adobe, and Microsoft are part of the Coalition on Content Provenance and Authenticity and contributed to the creation of C2PA Metadata, a widely used standard for marking AI-generated content.
Adobe, Microsoft, and trade groups representing the nation's largest software makers opposed AB 3211 in a letter to California lawmakers in April, calling the bill “unworkable” and “overly burdensome.” But amendments to the bill appear to have changed the trade groups' minds.
