The Pulse
FCC weighs Club for Growth bid to permit AI political robocalls
The FCC is considering a Club for Growth petition to allow unsolicited political calls to cellphones using prerecorded or AI-generated voices. Replies in the agency’s comment process are due October 19, ahead of the November midterm electio
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
“Exempting political calls from the need for consumer consent would supercharge that strategy, and misleading messages could land directly on the handheld phone of nearly every voter in our country.”
Anna Gomez, FCC commissioner
The FCC is weighing a waiver before the midterms
The Federal Communications Commission is considering a Club for Growth request to allow political groups to make unsolicited calls to cellphones using artificial or prerecorded voices, including voices generated by AI. The agency has not approved the change. Its Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau opened the petition for public comment in September, and the FCC could decide as soon as late October, according to The Associated Press.
Club for Growth filed its petition on August 31. The FCC’s September 4 public notice describes the request as a limited waiver of an agency rule and an exemption from a section of the Communications Act, which together would remove the requirement to obtain a recipient’s prior express consent for noncommercial political calls to wireless numbers. The comment deadline was October 5; replies are due October 19.
What Club for Growth says the change would do
The group argues the current rules are outdated and restrict political speech. Club for Growth says the change could help political organizations reach voters in more languages and improve polling by making it easier to contact more people. In the AP report, group president David McIntosh framed the request as equal treatment for political messages and other wireless calls.
“Our petition asks the FCC to treat First Amendment protected political speech the same way it already treats wireless calls about package deliveries, bank accounts, and doctor’s appointments,” McIntosh told AP. The proposal would not remove every restriction: the AP reported that callers would still have to provide an opt-out and could make no more than three calls to an individual within 30 days.
AI voices are already covered by the robocall law
The petition arrives after the FCC’s 2024 ruling that AI-generated human voices fall under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s restrictions on artificial or prerecorded voices. That ruling generally requires prior consent for covered calls unless an exception applies. Club for Growth is asking the agency to create an exception for noncommercial political calls, rather than to reverse its earlier determination that AI-generated voices count as artificial voices.
The risks have already surfaced in an election. During the 2024 New Hampshire presidential primary, thousands of voters received a robocall using an AI-generated imitation of then-President Joe Biden that urged them to save their votes for the general election. The FCC acted shortly afterward to clarify that AI voice-cloning calls fall under the consumer-protection law.
Critics warn about deception and voter data
Gomez, the commission’s sole Democratic member, told AP she opposes the waiver and fears a surge of robocalls and misinformation. Tim Harper, who leads the elections team at the Center for Democracy and Technology, warned that a decision close to Election Day could create “a huge opportunity for abuse.” He said campaigns could use the technology to target voters deceptively.
The potential reach goes beyond prerecorded messages. Political groups could also use AI systems to hold live conversations with voters, AP reported. Mekela Panditharatne, senior counsel in the Brennan Center for Justice’s democracy program, warned that a system could make false promises about a candidate or give voters inaccurate or incomplete information; Harper also raised the possibility that people would not know how an AI agent was collecting or reusing their data.
The decision could arrive weeks before voting
The FCC notice asks for public input on the Club for Growth petition, but it does not promise the group a decision by any particular date. A late-October ruling would come only weeks before the November midterms, creating a compressed window for any change to affect campaign calls. The petition’s supporters cite political speech and voter outreach; opponents point to the risk of deceptive calls reaching voters without their consent.
For now, the request remains pending. The next scheduled step is the reply-comment deadline on October 19.