Consultant to Joe Biden’s political rival Rep. Dean Phillips admits to ordering robocall using AI from president’s voice
- Rep. Dean Phillips’ political adviser, Steve Kramer, admitted to ordering a robocall that used AI to mimic President Joe Biden’s voice
- Illusionist Paul Carpenter revealed that Kramer paid him to create the deep fake
- Call told Democrats they did not have to vote for Biden in the New Hampshire primary
A political adviser to Joe Biden’s main competitor, Rep. Dean Phillips, admitted to being behind the fake robocall that used AI to impersonate the president.
Steve Kramer said he ordered the robocall using artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic President Biden’s voice. according to a Sunday NBC News report.
His admission comes after New Orleans street magician and illusionist Paul Carpenter claimed a Democratic political consultant paid him $150 to create a deep fake of Biden’s vote for a robocall telling supporters they don’t have to vote during the primaries in New Hampshire.
Carpenter used AI software to imitate Biden’s voice in the message.
A political adviser to President Joe Biden’s chief rival, Rep. Dean Phillips (pictured), came forward to admit he ordered the AI robocall of the president’s voice telling voters not to participate in January’s New Hampshire primary
Steve Kramer admitted to ordering the deepfake robocall of Biden’s vote
Kramer expressed regret to NBC News for making the call and said more needs to be done to prevent this from happening in the future.
“With just a $500 investment, anyone could replicate my intentional call,” Kramer said. “Immediate action is needed across all regulators and platforms.”
The call sparked several investigations by law enforcement and sparked outrage from watchdogs and those who organize elections.
Rep. Phillips (D-Minn.) paid Kramer more than $250,000 around the time the robocall came out in January, according to campaign finance records. But Kramer did not tell NBC News whether his client instructed him to make the call.
Phillips is still making a preliminary primary bid against Biden — and was hoping for unrest in New Hampshire last month.
Illusionist Paul Carpenter says he was hired by Dean Phillips agent Steve Kramer in January to imitate Biden’s voice
In explaining the robocall purchase, Kramer said, “On Sunday evening, January 20, two days before the New Hampshire primary, I sent an automated call to 5,000 people who were most likely to vote for Democrats.”
“Using easy-to-use online technology, an automated version of President Joe Biden’s voice was created,” Kramer said in a statement.
Phillips has denounced the robocall and his campaign insists they had no knowledge of Kramer’s involvement. They said if they had known, he would have been fired on the spot.