Unanimous vote makes AI-generated voice calls ILLEGAL in US – and FCC says ruling ‘takes effect immediately’

Scam and spam robocalls using lifelike AI-generated human voices are now officially illegal, according to a unanimous ruling from the Federal Communications Commission.

The new ruling, issued today, promises to “give attorneys general across the country new tools to go after the bad actors behind these nefarious robocalls.”

“Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members, impersonate celebrities, and misinform voters,” FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a press release.

“We are notifying the fraudsters behind these robocalls.”

“The attorneys general will now have new tools to tackle these scams and ensure the public is protected from fraud and misinformation,” Rosenworcel said. said.

The FCC ruling will expand the activities that plaintiffs can pursue under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which is currently the primary law allowing authorities to help limit unwanted calls.

But the FCC also said it is pursuing its own use cases for AI, using pattern recognition software in an effort to spot illegal robocalls “before they ever reach consumers on the phone.”

The FCC has been investigating the issue since last November, when it launched an investigative notice to investigate the extent to which advanced AI tools are being used in illegal robocalls and what new policies could help turn the tide.

Following today’s ruling, the federal agency noted that these types of phone scams have increased in recent years.

The FCC ruling will expand what activities prosecutors and U.S. attorneys general can pursue under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which is currently the primary law allowing authorities to help limit unwanted calls.

“This technology now has the potential,” the FCC said in a statement, “to confuse consumers with misinformation by imitating the voices of celebrities, political candidates and close family members.”

Before today’s ruling, U.S. attorneys general had only been given the authority to retroactively prosecute less digital or less virtual crimes — such as extortion or voter suppression — only after these schemes had gone beyond the robocall itself.

Now the FCC has done the deed of using AI to generate the votes used in this robocalls are themselves illegal.

Today’s commission ruling will also expand the legal options available to other state law enforcement agencies, as well as to the general public and the commission itself through civil lawsuits.

Under this new ruling, the FCC said it has civil enforcement powers to fine AI-generated robocallers, and to block phone companies and other telecommunications companies from activities that help facilitate these illegal robocalls.

This “Declaratory Ruling,” which expands the meaning and reach of the TCPA to include AI-generated robocalls, will also allow individual consumers and organizations to file a lawsuit against offending robocallers.

“It seems like something from the distant future, but this threat is already here,” FCC Chairman Rosenworcel told the Associated Press when asked about the timing of today’s ruling.

“We could all be on the receiving end of these hoax calls, so that’s why we felt now was the time to act.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.