AI political – The FCC is considering a waiver that could allow political groups to use AI-generated voices for robocalls just weeks before the midterms, sparking fears of a surge in election misinformation.
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to decide on a petition that could flood American cellphones with AI-generated political messages just days before the midterm elections. A conservative group. the Club for Growth. is pressing the regulator for a waiver to bypass federal law. which currently mandates consent before placing robocalls to mobile devices.
If the Republican-led commission grants the request. it could rule as early as late October—leaving the country’s communication infrastructure vulnerable to automated. partisan messaging right before voters decide which party controls Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term.
For many, the specter of this technology remains fresh. During the 2024 presidential primary. New Hampshire voters received thousands of calls featuring an AI-generated voice of then-President Joe Biden. urging them to skip the primary to “save” their votes for the general election. While the consultant behind those calls was acquitted of criminal voter suppression, he faced significant fines and civil damages. Shortly after that incident. the FCC issued a ruling that AI voice-cloning tools were already prohibited under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
That history creates a stark tension between current regulatory protections and the proposed waiver. Anna Gomez. the sole Democrat among the three active commissioners. warns that granting this request would invite a “tsunami of robocalls and misinformation.” She points to the recent trend of dark money groups using AI to mimic candidates’ likenesses in inflammatory comments. noting that removing the consent requirement would “supercharge that strategy.”.
Tim Harper of the Center for Democracy and Technology describes the timing as a potential catalyst for outsized harm. While the waiver would technically still be subject to existing laws against voter intimidation and deception. critics argue that weakening the consent deterrent provides bad actors a clear opening to target voters with misleading messages.
The Club for Growth maintains that the change would modernize outdated rules. arguing it would allow organizations to better communicate with voters in multiple languages and improve polling accuracy. They propose that callers would remain limited to three calls per 30 days and must provide an opt-out mechanism. Beyond simple messaging. the shift could enable the use of AI large language models to conduct live. automated conversations with voters. Mekela Panditharatne of the Brennan Center for Justice warns that such interactive systems carry the risk of making false promises or manipulating voters with incomplete information. while Harper adds that voters may not know how these AI agents are capturing or repurposing their personal data.
The commission’s recent trajectory suggests a shift toward aggressive, and sometimes controversial, regulatory actions. Chairman Brendan Carr recently launched an early review of broadcast licenses for ABC-owned stations—a move the company is currently challenging in court as unconstitutional retaliation for content disliked by the President. As the FCC moves through a compressed schedule for the Club for Growth’s petition. with a public comment period ending October 19. the agency remains silent on its ultimate path forward.
Past election cycles have already demonstrated the volatility of automated outreach. In 2020, voters in majority-Black areas received robocalls falsely claiming that voting by mail would lead to arrest and debt collection. The two hoaxers behind those calls. Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman. were eventually criminally charged and hit with $5.1 million in fines for violating federal law. Whether the FCC chooses to open that door wider in these final weeks remains the primary concern for those bracing for a deluge of unwanted. synthetic communication.
FCC AI robocalls midterm elections Club for Growth political messaging Brendan Carr Anna Gomez voting technology