With Pennsylvania’s midterm elections less than a week away, a political advertisement featuring an AI-generated deepfake of Democratic incumbent Josh Shapiro has intensified scrutiny over the state’s lack of regulations governing artificial intelligence in campaign media, WPSU reported.
The Republican challenger for governor, Stacy Garrity, released the digital ad. It opens with an artificial simulation of Shapiro smiling as he opens the doors to the governor’s office. An American flag and a Pennsylvania flag sit on either side of a desk in the background.
“Hello there. I’m Josh Shapiro, and I’ve been very busy. It started with all those sexual harassment scandals,” the AI-generated Shapiro says in the video.
The ad features the artificial figure pointing toward a real New York Times article headline reading, “Shapiro Faces Scrutiny Over Sexual Harassment Complaint Against Aide.” The video includes no on-screen text or watermark alerting viewers that the media is artificially produced. The simulated version of Shapiro does not disclose that he is not the real Josh Shapiro until roughly 45 seconds into the spot.
“This ad was created with AI, thanks to big beautiful data centers,” the synthetic figure says near the conclusion of the video.
Reactions and Legislative Gaps in Pennsylvania
A spokesperson for the real Josh Shapiro issued a statement to Axios calling the advertisement “cheap” and “dishonest.” Meanwhile, Garrity told KDKA-TV that she stands by the ad.
Pennsylvania currently maintains no laws prohibiting deepfakes in political advertisements, nor does state statute require disclaimers on AI-generated campaign content.
In May, state Sen. Lisa Boscola circulated a legislative memo outlining plans to introduce a bill that would ban AI-generated or AI-altered video, audio, and images of candidates during the 90-day window preceding an election. That measure has not yet been formally introduced.
Last year, the state House approved a separate bill aimed at regulating deepfakes in campaign advertising, but that legislation failed to advance past the state Senate.
Regional Approaches to Campaign AI
Pennsylvania’s legislative inaction contrasts with several surrounding jurisdictions. Neighboring states including Delaware, Maryland, and New York have already enacted laws either outright prohibiting election deepfakes or mandating clear disclaimers that state the content is artificially generated.
