FCC Democrat opposes bid to allow AI robocalls before US midterms

Anna Gomez, the Democratic commissioner on the US Federal Communications Commission, has called on the agency to block the use of artificial intelligence-generated robocalls in the run-up to November's midterm elections.

On Wednesday she objected to a petition filed by the conservative fiscal group Club for Growth, which is asking regulators to let political organisations make automated calls without first obtaining recipients' consent. The group has proposed limiting contact to no more than three calls per person within a 30-day period and offering an opt-out option.

The petition was submitted on August 31, and the FCC opened a public comment period on September 4, with submissions due by Monday. Replies to those comments must be filed by October 19, and the commission has not yet ruled on the request.

Robocalls have long featured in political campaigning. Current FCC rules bar such calls to mobile phones and pagers without prior consent, though they remain allowed on landlines.

Officials have raised concerns that AI-generated voices can convincingly mimic real people, raising the risk of impersonation. Citing a surge in AI-related scams, the FCC banned the use of AI-generated voices in robocalls in February 2024, stating that doing so made the practice itself illegal.

Gomez warned that allowing an anonymously funded group to send unsolicited AI-generated robocalls could create significant disruption so close to election day. She also cautioned that scrapping the consent requirement risked a rise in both unwanted calls and the spread of misinformation.