A political operative says that he was behind a robocall imitating President Joe Biden that went out to thousands of voters urging them not to vote.
“The evening of Sunday, January 20th, 2 days before the New Hampshire primary, I sent out an automated call to 5,000 most likely to vote Democrats. Using easy to use online technology, an automated version of President Joe Biden’s voice was created,” Steve Kramer told NBC News.
“With a mere $500 investment, anyone could replicate my intentional call,” Kramer added. “Immediate action is needed across all regulatory bodies and platforms.”
The robocall encouraged New Hampshire voters to skip out on the primary election in January.
“Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again. Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday,” the voice automated to sound like Biden said.
The New Hampshire attorney general’s office is investigating the call. It linked two Texas companies — Lingo Telecom and Life Corporation — to the call, but said there are other entities “who are not necessarily responsible for the calls but who we believe have pertinent information,” HuffPost previously reported.
The state’s DOJ sent document preservation notices and subpoenas to both companies, according to HuffPost. It also sent Life Corporation a cease-and-desist letter, while The Federal Communications Commission sent one to Lingo Telecom, HuffPost added.
While Biden ultimately won the New Hampshire primary without having been on the ballot, the calls highlight concerns about artificial intelligence and its role in elections.
“I think this case is unique in that it’s providing us a real-life example of an attempt to use AI to interfere with an election,” Formella previously said. “That’s been something we’ve been concerned about in the law enforcement community for a while, and certainly something that the state attorneys general have talked about, but we…
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