What happened
Reported 27 October 2026, the 'NO FAKES Act of 2026' (Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act) advanced through a Senate committee and will go before the full Senate. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) lead the Senate effort, with Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) sponsoring the House version. It would establish a federal intellectual property right to an individual's voice and visual likeness and allow civil action against those who knowingly create and profit from unauthorised 'digital replicas', expressly preempting state digital-replica laws except for causes of action existing as of 2 January 2025.
Why it matters
If enacted, the NO FAKES Act would create a single, federal regime governing AI-generated replicas of a person's voice and likeness, displacing a patchwork of state laws and giving creators and individuals a direct federal cause of action against unauthorised AI impersonation. Advance to a full-Senate vote marks material legislative progress for a national AI-likeness standard, and would impose new diligence duties on platforms and AI tool providers that generate or host synthetic personas.
Action needed
AI media-generation providers, platforms and advertisers that produce or distribute digital replicas should track Senate floor action and prepare for a new federal licencing/likeness-rights standard and corresponding notice/takedown and disclosure duties.