Advertisers must prove AI performance claims before going to market, South Korea's antitrust watchdog says

Products and services marketed on the strength of AI-enhanced performance will now be required to have objective supporting evidence on hand before making such claims.

Advertising phrases that consumers are likely to take as factual — such as "improves concentration and memory" or "made from ingredients harmless to the human body" — may also be subject to demands for substantiating evidence from the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

The Fair Trade Commission announced Wednesday that a revised notice governing the substantiation of advertising and labeling claims will take effect Thursday.

The substantiation regime requires businesses to hold objective and reasonable grounds for claims made in their advertisements. The commission can demand that companies submit relevant documentation and uses it to determine whether an advertisement is misleading. The notice sets out specific procedures and standards covering everything from the initial data request to submission, review and final disposition.

The central change in this revision is the explicit designation of AI and other emerging-technology advertising as a primary category subject to substantiation. As claims of AI-powered performance improvements have multiplied in recent product and service marketing, the commission has tightened its standards to verify whether objective grounds exist for the gap between advertised and actual performance.

The revision also spells out, drawing on past rulings, specific advertising expressions that may trigger a substantiation request. These include phrases emphasizing efficacy or safety — such as "improves concentration and memory" or "made from ingredients harmless to the human body" — as well as advertisements that state precise figures for a product's raw-material composition, such as "X% down, X% feathers."

Businesses that receive a substantiation request from the commission must in principle submit the relevant documentation within 15 days of the request. Extensions may be granted when unavoidable circumstances are recognized, but the extension period has been shortened from "30 days from the date the reason ceases to exist" to "within 15 days." The change is intended to curb the practice of advertising first and assembling supporting evidence afterward, reinforcing a "substantiate first, advertise later" principle.

Recognized grounds for an extension include natural disasters, mergers and acquisitions, the commencement of rehabilitation or bankruptcy proceedings or equivalent procedures, the seizure or temporary retention of account books and evidentiary documents by a competent authority, and serious disruption to business operations caused by fire or other disasters.

The revised notice also explicitly states that advertising may be suspended if supporting documentation is not submitted within the prescribed period, including any extension. If a business fails to provide substantiation data by the deadline, the commission may in principle order the advertisement in question to cease. Companies that wish to actively promote a product's efficacy or performance must secure the evidence to back those claims before the advertisement runs.

The commission has also prepared a separate checklist to help businesses navigate the relevant procedures. It covers submission deadlines, extension requirements and submission methods, as well as the sanctions that may follow if documentation is not provided.

"This revision to the notice will give businesses specific self-assessment criteria to help prevent legal violations," the commission said, adding that it expects the change "to contribute to effectively preventing consumer harm."