The Federal Communications Commission announced a right away ban on fake AI-generated robocalls — a move designed to send a transparent message that exploiting the technology to scam people or mislead voters won’t be tolerated ahead of November’s critical presidential election.
The unanimous ruling by the FCC targets robocalls made with AI voice-cloning tools — or “deepfakes” — under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a 1991 law restricting junk calls that use artificial and prerecorded voice messages.
“Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable relations, imitate celebrities, and misinform voters,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in an announcement.
“We’re putting the fraudsters behind these robocalls on notice.”
The move comes after authorities earlier this week warned two Texas corporations who were allegedly behind robocalls that used AI to mimic President Biden’s voice and discourage people from voting in Latest Hampshire’s primary last month.
The FCC will now be empowered to nice corporations that use AI voices of their calls. The agency will even have the authority to dam the service providers that carry them.
The Federal Communications Commission has outlawed “deepfake” AI-generated robocalls. Shutterstock
Those that receive the robocalls may also file lawsuits against the businesses which might be behind them.
Under the patron protection law, telemarketers generally cannot use automated dialers or artificial or prerecorded voice messages to call cellphones, and they can’t make such calls to landlines without prior written consent from the decision recipient.
The brand new ruling classifies AI-generated voices in robocalls as “artificial” and thus enforceable by the identical standards, the FCC said.
Those that break the law can face steep fines, maxing out at greater than $23,000 per call, the FCC said.
“We’re putting the fraudsters behind these robocalls on notice,” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said. AP
The agency has previously used the patron law to clamp down on robocallers interfering in elections, including imposing a $5 million nice on two conservative hoaxers for falsely warning people in predominantly black areas that voting by mail could heighten their risk of arrest, debt collection and compelled vaccination.
The law also gives call recipients the precise to take legal motion and potentially get well as much as $1,500 in damages for every unwanted call.
Last yr, because the presidential race got underway, several campaign advertisements used AI-generated audio or imagery, and a few candidates experimented with using AI chatbots to speak with voters.
Bipartisan efforts in Congress have sought to manage AI in political campaigns, but no federal laws has passed, with the overall election nine months away.
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The AI-generated robocalls that sought to influence Latest Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary election used a voice just like Biden’s, employed his often-used phrase, “What a bunch of malarkey” and falsely suggested that voting in the first would preclude voters from casting a ballot in November.
Latest Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said Tuesday that investigators had identified the Texas-based Life Corp. and its owner, Walter Monk because the source of the calls, which went to hundreds of state residents, mostly registered Democrats. He said the calls were transmitted by one other Texas-based company, Lingo Telecom.
Latest Hampshire issued cease-and-desist orders and subpoenas to each corporations, while the FCC issued a cease-and-desist letter to the telecommunications company, Formella said.
A task force of attorneys general in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., sent a letter to Life Corp. warning it to stop originating illegal calls immediately.
In keeping with the FCC, each Lingo Telecom and Life Corp. have been investigated for illegal robocalls previously.
In 2003, FCC issued a citation to Life Corp. for delivering illegal pre-recorded and unsolicited advertisements to residential lines.
Americans are inundated with billions of robocalls monthly. Getty Images/iStockphoto
More recently, the duty force of attorneys general has accused Lingo of being the gateway provider for 61 suspected illegal calls from overseas.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a stop and desist order against Lingo’s prior corporate name, Matrix Telecom, in 2022. The following yr, the duty force demanded that it take steps to guard its network.
Lingo Telecom said in an announcement Tuesday that it “acted immediately” to assist with the investigation into the robocalls impersonating Biden and quickly identified and suspended Life Corporation when contacted by the duty force. A person who answered the business line for Life Corp. declined to comment on Thursday.
Earlier this week, YouMail, a free robocall-blocking app and call protection service for mobile phones, released data showing that just about 4.3 billion robocalls were made in January — a 13% increase in comparison with the previous month, but a 5.2% decline from the 4.5 billion robocalls made in January of last yr.
With Post wires
