A Democratic political strategist's controversial use of artificial intelligence to impersonate President Biden has landed him in legal hot water.
According to Fox News, Steve Kramer is now on trial, facing over two dozen criminal charges and a $6 million Federal Communications Commission fine for orchestrating AI-generated robocalls that mimicked President Biden's voice to discourage New Hampshire voters from participating in the state's primary election.
The case marks the first time the FCC has imposed penalties involving AI technology misuse in political communications. Kramer admitted to hiring a New Orleans magician to create a deepfake of Biden's voice for automated calls that reached between 5,000 to 25,000 voters just two days before New Hampshire's January 23 primary election.
The deceptive calls appeared to originate from Kathy Sullivan, who previously chaired the New Hampshire Democratic Party and was leading a write-in campaign for Biden at the time.
Using sophisticated AI technology, the fake Biden message attempted to convince Democrats to skip the primary and save their votes for November's general election.
Kramer faces 13 felony charges for allegedly trying to prevent voting through misleading information, along with 13 additional misdemeanor counts for falsely representing himself as a candidate. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office will prosecute the charges across four counties.
The investigation identified Texas-based Life Corp. as the source of the calls, while another Texas company, Lingo Telecom, transmitted them. Lingo Telecom now faces its own $2 million FCC fine, though the company disputes the charges.
When confronted about the scheme, Kramer told local media outlet News 9 that he orchestrated the calls to highlight gaps in AI regulation. He stated:
Maybe I'm a villain today, but I think, in the end, we get a better country and better democracy because of what I've done, deliberately.
Paul Carpenter, the magician who created the deepfake audio, revealed he was paid $150 by Kramer for the job, though he charged only $1 for the actual AI voice generation. Carpenter maintains he was unaware of how the audio would be used, stating:
I created the audio used in the robocall. I did not distribute it. I was in a situation where someone offered me some money to do something and I did it. There was no malicious intent. I didn't know how it was going to be distributed.
Kramer's political consulting background includes work on ballot access for former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and rapper Kanye West's 2020 presidential campaign. Phillips has since distanced himself from Kramer, who claims to have acted independently in the robocall scheme.
The timing of the calls was particularly significant as New Hampshire's primary date violated the Democratic National Committee's 2024 presidential nominating calendar. This scheduling conflict had already resulted in Biden's name being left off the New Hampshire ballot, prompting local Democrats to launch a write-in campaign to avoid potential embarrassment for the president's reelection bid.
Steve Kramer, a Democratic political consultant, awaits judgment for allegedly orchestrating an AI-powered voter suppression scheme targeting New Hampshire's primary election. The case centers on his admission to creating and distributing fake robocalls using President Biden's AI-generated voice to discourage Democratic voter turnout.
This groundbreaking case represents the FCC's first enforcement action against AI technology misuse in political communications, with Kramer facing criminal charges and substantial fines that could reshape the landscape of campaign tactics and AI regulation.
