New Hampshire political consultant behind AI-powered Biden robocalls hit with 24 criminal charges, $6M fine
The New Hampshire political consultant behind robocalls mimicking President Biden is now facing 24 criminal charges, 13 of which are felony counts.
Steve Kramer admitted to commissioning robocalls that used artificial intelligence to generate a voice similar to President Biden encouraging recipients not to participate in the primary.
The Federal Communications Commission also announced $6 million in fines against Kramer.
"It’s important that you save your vote for the November election," the illicit calls stated, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella. The calls added, "Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday."
"After we received multiple reports and complaints on the day these calls were made and the day after these calls were made, my office immediately opened an investigation," Formella said.
He described how his office's Election Law Unit worked with the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, a bipartisan task force made up of 50 state attorneys general and the Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau.
Kramer previously told local outlet News 9 he produced the phone calls as a stunt to demonstrate the need to regulate AI technology.
"Maybe I’m a villain today, but I think, in the end, we get a better country and better democracy because of what I’ve done, deliberately," Kramer previously said of the investigation.
The New Hampshire robocalls sparked immediate action in outlawing deep fakes impersonating political candidates. The FCC ruled the practice illegal in February.
With the unanimous adoption of a ruling that recognizes calls made with AI-generated voices as "artificial" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a 1991 law restricting junk calls that use artificial and prerecorded voice messages, the FCC said it was giving state attorneys general new tools to go after those responsible for voice-cloning scams.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
"Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members, imitate celebrities and misinform voters. We’re putting the fraudsters behind these robocalls on notice," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.
"State Attorneys General will now have new tools to crack down on these scams and ensure the public is protected from fraud and misinformation."
Fox News' Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.