The person responsible for the fraudulent Biden AI robocalls from last month seems to have been identified. The Department of Justice in New Hampshire said on Tuesday that it has identified the source of the illicit calls as Texas-based Life Corporation and Walter Monk, the company’s owner.
Life Corporation is facing charges of engaging in voter suppression by knowingly attempting to prevent or discourage another person from voting or registering to vote on the basis of false, deceptive, misleading, or spurious grounds or information. As a result, a cease-and-desist order has been issued against the company.
Numerous New Hampshire citizens got robocalls last month that specifically discouraged them from casting a ballot in the primary election. These calls circulated a misleading statement claiming that voting in the present election would be futile and that their ballots had to be “saved” for use in the general election in November. Actually, it is possible and encouraged for voters to participate in both the primary and general elections.
Already, this would be terrible. However, in addition to using AI-generated deepfake audio of President Joe Biden’s voice to disseminate misinformation, these calls even spoof caller IDs, making it look as though the call was coming from a former Democratic Party Chairperson in New Hampshire’s phone number.
The 46th President of the United States would have appeared to be directly telling a casual listener not to cast a vote. These robocalls could have totaled up to 25,000.
Lingo Telecom, a company situated in Texas, has also been linked to the disinformation campaign after it is said that it enabled the robocalls on its networks. As the original voice service provider, Lingo Telecom has received a cease-and-desist letter and has ceased offering its services to Life Corporation.
In connection with the ongoing criminal investigation, subpoenas and documentation preservation notifications have also been sent to Lingo Telecom and Life Corporation.
Attorney General John Formella stated in the news release that “AI-generated recordings used to deceive voters have the potential to have devastating effects on the democratic election process.” The cooperation and prompt action in [looking into] this situation makes it abundantly evident that industry, law enforcement, and regulatory bodies are keeping a careful eye out for any indications that AI is being used maliciously to undermine our democratic process and are collaborating closely to monitor and look into them.
Life Corporation has run afoul of the law on previous occasions. The business was previously cited by the Federal Communications Commission in 2003 for making unsolicited, pre-recorded advertising calls.
