On Thursday, February 8, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized its plan to ban robocalls that feature voices generated by artificial intelligence, aiming to stem the tide of AI-generated scams and misinformation campaigns. The FCC’s declaratory ruling formalized its position that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)—specifically, the provision prohibiting the initiation of calls “using an artificial prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party”—applies to the use of AI-generated voices. Hence, just as the TCPA requires businesses to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before robocalling them, businesses must now obtain consent for automated telemarketing calls using AI-generated voices. Businesses seeking to deploy AI in its marketing calls using automated dialing systems should therefore consider reviewing and, if necessary, updating applicable disclosures and consents to account for the FCC’s new ruling and limit potential liability under the TCPA.
TCPA Unsolicited Robocall Ban Now Includes AI-generated Voices
