Is a phone call that uses artificial intelligence to imitate a real person “an artificial or prerecorded voice,” subject to the restrictions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act? The Federal Communications Commission unanimously answered yes in a recent declaratory ruling, foreclosing creative arguments that a “voice clone” is a live call and not an artificial voice subject to the nearly 35-year-old law. The decision, which comes just weeks after thousands of New Hampshire voters reportedly received robocalls impersonating President Biden’s voice urging them not to vote in the state’s primary, has important implications for use of the burgeoning technology in the 2024 elections.

As campaigns and their supporters experiment with new uses for AI technology, the FCC’s declaratory ruling immediately extends existing protections of the TCPA to AI-generated calls, such as those pretending to be a candidate, surrogate, or other voice trusted by the recipients. The ruling will immediately require callers that use AI technologies to simulate human voices to obtain the express consent or express written consent of recipients before calls are placed to residential or wireless numbers, unless an emergency purpose or TCPA exemption applies. AI-generated calls will also need to provide certain identifying information about the party responsible for placing the calls and offer certain opt-out rights.Continue Reading Citing Upcoming Elections, FCC Extends TCPA to Cover AI-Generated Content

CyberWith political campaigns increasingly subject to cybersecurity breaches this year, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are racing to educate campaign staffers against potential threats. According to reports, foreign governments and others have stepped up efforts to hack into Democratic and Republican campaigns to access sensitive information, including address and credit card

Last week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its long-awaited report on the gathering and use of so-called “political intelligence.” While the report targets the role of political intelligence in the financial markets, it may fuel attempts to regulate this growing Washington industry by using federal lobbying laws as a model. The report also

The Federal Election Commission approved a proposal earlier this week to allow contributions via text messaging in federal elections. With the lawmaking process ill-equipped to keep pace with developing technologies, the success of this proposal – a year-and-a-half after the FEC rejected another text-messaging proposal – suggests that the path to approval for tech entrepreneurs