Fake AI-Generated Call From ‘Joe Biden’ Before N.H. Primary Leads To Investigation By State A.G.

On January 21, a phone call using artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden went out to voters urging them to refrain from voting in New Hampshire’s presidential primary election that took place on January 23.

The voice in the call asked its listeners to “save their vote” because it holds no power in the primaries and will only matter in November’s election. It concluded by providing its listeners with a phone number to contact if they would no longer like to receive these calls. 

The phone number that the call provided is the number of Kathy Sullivan, a prominent New Hampshire Democrat who has publicly backed the movement to write in Biden’s name on the ballot.

Although he was not on the ballot, Biden won the primary by a wide margin as a write-in.

The New Hampshire attorney general’s office has opened an investigation into the call because it appears to be an attempt at voter suppression. Sullivan expressed her support for the action taken by the attorney general, stating that she wants those who placed the call to be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. She added that she has asked federal law enforcement to investigate the call.

Sullivan previously experienced a similar attempt at voter suppression in 2002, when two Republican officials used a computer-generated phone call to disrupt a Democrat call center around the time of the election.

This incident has contributed to public worries about artificial intelligence and the threat it might pose to democracy and public trust.

Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chadz Rodriguez, said the Biden campaign is considering what actions it might take.

A spokesperson for the Donald Trump campaign denied involvement, saying, “Not us. We have nothing to do with it.”