FCC fines political consultant $6 million for deep robocalls

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially issued its recommended total fine against political consultant Steve Kramer for a series of illegal robocalls using deepfake AI technology and Caller ID fraud during the New Hampshire primaries. Kramer must pay a $6 million fine within the next 30 days or the Department of Justice will handle the collection, according to .

Kramer broke the law passed in 2009 prohibits anyone from “transmitting misleading or incorrect telephone identification information for the purpose of defraud, damage or wrongful acquisition of anything of value,” according to legislative records. The law predates widespread use of AI, but the FCC voted to crack down on such deepfakes last February.

Fake robocalls delivered a pre-recorded audio of President Biden’s voice using deep AI technology to New Hampshire citizens ahead of the 2024 presidential primary. Trickster President Biden told voters not to vote in an upcoming lecture saying “Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday,” according to an earlier report from . The robocalls were made to appear to be from the former chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, according to the report. .

Kramer hired New Orleans magician (no, really, real magician) Paul Carpenter to fake the recording. Carpenter demonstrated how to create immersive audio files of President Biden using an AI voice generator called ElevenLabs. The recording, he says, only took about 20 minutes to make. Carpenter says Kramer paid him through Venmo and thinks the work he was doing was authorized by President Biden’s campaign. Eleven Labs has since suspended Carpenter’s account.

Kramer says he sent the robocalls to raise awareness about the dangers and misuse of technology. His transparent experiment cost him only $500 but, according to political experts, led to a huge return. “For me to do that and get $5 million worth of exposure, not me,” Kramer told CBS New York. “I kept my name anonymous so that the laws would play themselves or start playing themselves. I don’t need to be famous. That is not my intention. My goal was to make a difference.”

Not only does Kramer face a hefty FCC fine, he faces criminal charges. announced last May that Kramer had received 13 counts of voter suppression and 13 counts of misdemeanor impersonation.