Consultant fined $6 million for using AI to fake Biden’s voice in robocalls

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday finalized a $6 million fine for a political consultant over fake robocalls that mimicked President Joe Biden’s voice, urging New Hampshire voters not to vote in that state’s Democratic primary.

In May, Steven Kramer, a Louisiana Democratic political consultant, was indicted in New Hampshire over calls that appeared to have Biden asking residents not to vote until November. Kramer had worked for Biden’s primary challenger, Representative Dean Phillips, who denounced the calls.

In January, Kramer told media outlets he paid $500 to have the calls sent to voters to raise attention to the danger of artificial intelligence in campaigns.

The FCC said the calls were generated using an AI-generated deepfake audio recording meant to sound like Biden’s voice...