Senator Collins Statement on FCC Declaring AI-Generated Robocalls Illegal

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declared, in a unanimous ruling, that the use of artificial intelligence-generated voice technology in robocalls is illegal under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.

"This unanimous decision from the FCC will help protect Americans from scammers who are using artificial intelligence to try to trick them into giving up their personal information and hard-earned money,” said Senator Collins.  “This ruling is a positive step forward.  Congress has a responsibility to carefully consider and address the challenges associated with artificial intelligence.  That’s why Senators Klobuchar, Hawley, Coons and I introduced the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act last fall.  Our bill would strengthen the integrity of our elections while also protecting First Amendment rights.  We will continue to work to advance this important bipartisan legislation.”

In September of 2023, Senator Collins joined a bipartisan group of senators in introducing the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, a bill that would prohibit the distribution of materially deceptive AI-generated audio or visual media relating to candidates for Federal office

In October, Senators Collins and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) called on the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to continue efforts to prevent artificial intelligence voice cloning scams in order to protect Americans from this growing deception. 

In January of this year, the Senators called on the Election Assistance Commission to assist state and local election officials in combating the spread of AI-generated disinformation about our elections. Their letter followed the reports of AI-generated deepfake robocalls using the President’s voice to discourage voting in the New Hampshire primary election.

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