That's the new price of not telling people your video is AI.
Yesterday, California's AI Transparency Act became operative, the first US law requiring major AI tools to actually prove what they made. Here's what it requires,
Three New Rules, Real Teeth
Any AI image, video, or audio tool with over 1 million monthly California users now has to do three things: embed a hidden watermark in what it generates, offer a free public tool to check if something's AI-made, and let users add a visible label. Miss it, and it's $5,000 per violation, per day. But here's what happened on day one:
Day One, Already Flagged
Midjourney (one of the most widely used AI image generators in the country) reportedly ships no watermark and no compliance credentials at all, per TechTimes. First real enforcement test of a law like this, and one of the biggest names in the space is already flagged.
Not Just a California Problem
This isn't California-only for the companies, if a tool reaches California users, it's in scope no matter where it's based. And it's not a coincidence this lines up with the EU's own AI transparency rules starting the exact same day. Two of the biggest regulators in the world just started requiring the same basic thing.
I Was Already Doing This
I've been adding the AI-content tag to every caption and every video on this account since July, not because a law told me to, because you deserve to know what you're watching. As of yesterday, the law finally caught up to something honest creators were already doing.
My Honest Take
The tools you're told to build a workflow around don't all have to tell you what they are yet, some of the biggest ones are still catching up, or not complying on day one. That's worth knowing before you trust one with a client's name on it. "Trust the tool" and "verify the tool" aren't the same thing.
Did You Know the Law Just Changed?
As of yesterday, major AI tools legally have to prove what they made, and one of the biggest names in the space is already flagged for not doing it.