FCC chair asks telecoms to detail efforts to block fraudulent AI political robocalls
Technology
FCC chair asks telecoms to detail efforts to block fraudulent AI political robocalls
(Reuters) - The chair of the Federal Communications Commission asked the CEOs of AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other cable and telecom carriers to detail efforts to crack down on fraudulent political robocalls that are generated by AI, the agency said Thursday.
Last month Steven Kramer, a Louisiana Democratic political consultant, was indicted over a fake robocall imitating U.S. President Joe Biden seeking to dissuade people from voting for him in New Hampshire's Democratic primary election.
The FCC in May proposed to fine Kramer $6 million over the robocalls it said used an AI-generated deepfake audio recording of Biden’s cloned voice, saying its rules prohibit transmission of inaccurate caller ID information. Kramer has pleaded not guilty.
The FCC also proposed to fine Lingo Telecom $2 million for allegedly transmitting the robocalls.
"We know that AI technologies will make it cheap and easy to flood our networks with deepfakes used to mislead and betray trust," FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel wrote to the companies in a letter seen by Reuters.
"It is especially chilling to see AI voice-cloning used to impersonate candidates during elections. As AI tools become more accessible to bad actors and scammers, we need to do everything we can to keep this junk off our network."
There is growing concern in Washington that AI-generated content could mislead voters in the November presidential and congressional elections. Some senators want to pass legislation before November that would address AI threats to election integrity.
Rosenworcel separately has proposed the FCC require broadcast radio and television political advertisements to disclose whether the content is generated by AI.
From yet another record for Nvidia, to Apple hitting a snag in Europe, this is AI Weekly.
AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, T-Mobile and Verizon could not be immediately reached for comment.
