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New Orleans-based magician Paul Carpenter hired a Democratic political consultant to create an AI-generated deepfake recording of Joe Biden that was sent to voters ahead of the January 23 New Hampshire primary. He claimed that he was Intensifying criminal investigations, he forced the FCC to ban AI robocalls.
important facts
In an interview with NBC News, Carpenter claimed he created the robocalls but did not distribute them.
Carpenter said he was hired by Steve Cramer, a Democratic political operative who had recently worked as a consultant on the presidential campaigns of Dean Phillips and Kanye West, and that Cramer was a magician from a Venmo account connected to his father. NBC reported, citing the transaction, that he allegedly paid $150 for the deal. Call logs displayed by outlet.
Carpenter said the task took just 20 minutes using software developed by AI startup ElevenLabs (the company has since suspended the original account). This claim is consistent with a Bloomberg report that said the company had identified and banned the accounts responsible.
Kramer has not publicly commented on the allegations, but told NBC News he planned to publish an op-ed on Saturday that would “explain everything.”
Kramer recently worked as a consultant for the Phillips campaign seeking voting access in New York and Pennsylvania in December 2023 and January 2024, but the campaign told Forbes it would create a deepfake of New Hampshire. He said that all the actions he took were of his own free will.
The campaign said it was “disgusted” by the allegations and would “categorically condemn” Kramer’s actions if proven true.
Main background
In the days leading up to the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary, an estimated 5,000 to 25,000 residents of the Granite State received robocalls from voices sounding like President Biden. In the call, first reported by NBC News, deepfake audio urged voters to “save your vote” for the November general election, and used one of Biden’s most famous phrases to suggest that the primary election is called a “mass of malarkey.” Shortly after the news broke, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella called on residents of the state to “completely ignore the content of this message” and announced the opening of a criminal investigation into the robocalls. On February 6, Formella’s office announced that the calls had been traced back to two Texas-based companies: Life Corporation and Ringo Telecom. The recording ultimately led to a unanimous ruling by the FCC this month that AI-generated voices are considered “artificial voices” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and banned from use in all robocalls. became.
Contra
Carpenter claimed he only created the recording and had no role in sending it to New Hampshire voters. “There was no malicious intent. I had no idea how it would be distributed,” Carpenter told NBC. The magician said that using Eleven Labs’ software, this task costs him only $1 and is easy to learn through YouTube tutorials. “It’s so scary, even though it’s so easy. People aren’t ready for it.”
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