A company that sent deceptive calls to New Hampshire voters using artificial intelligence to mimic President Joe Biden’s voice agreed Wednesday to pay a $1 million fine, federal regulators said.
Lingo Telecom, the voice service provider that transmitted the robocalls, agreed to the settlement to resolve enforcement action taken by the Federal Communications Commission, which had initially sought a $2 million fine.
The case is seen by many as an unsettling early example of how AI might be used to influence groups of voters and democracy as a whole.
Meanwhile Steve Kramer, a political consultant who orchestrated the calls, still faces a proposed $6 million FCC fine as well as state criminal charges.
That’s just the telecom company that transmitted the calls. If you read the posted text from the article, the guy who did it is facing criminal charges and a $6m fine
Even worse - the company is being treated better than the individual.
Until you start seeing fines like “20% of your yearly revenue” this shit is gonna keep happening. A $1M fine isn’t even a slap on the wrist to a telecom
The company didn’t run the campaign. They didn’t know what was being transmitted. Their crime was being too trusting of their customer and signing off on the calls without enough scrutiny.