On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission declared that robocalls made using AI-generated voice will be illegal, effective immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a released statement,<\/u><\/a> the FCC said, \u201ccalls made with AI-generated voices are \u2018artificial\u2019 under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA),\u201d and that the ruling \u201cmakes voice cloning technology used in common robocall scams targeting consumers illegal.\u201d The TCPA<\/u><\/a> is a law passed in 1991 that manages and restricts robocalls and telemarketing calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ruling comes after an incident before the primary elections in New Hampshire. According to a news release<\/u><\/a> from the New Hampshire Department of Justice, an estimated 5,000 and 25,000 calls were made to New Hampshire residents. The calls used an AI-generated voice that resembled the voice of President Joe Biden encouraging voters not to participate in the primaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After an investigation, which included a task force of 50 attorneys general, the source of the calls was traced to two Texas-based companies, Life Corporation, the source of the calls, and Lingo Telecom, a provider for many of the calls. An individual associated with Life Corporation named Walter Monk was also referenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life Corporation is being issued a cease-and-desist order, per the New Hampshire DOJ\u2019s release.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The new ruling gives the FCC the authority to fine robocallers, block calls from telephone carries found to be facilitating robocalls, and gives individuals or organizations affected by robocalls the ability to bring lawsuits against the robocallers, per the FCC\u2019s release.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n