FCC Confirms TCPA Bars AI-Generated Voices and Adopts New Consent Revocation Rights Rules for Texts

In response to a January update, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) published a Declaratory Ruling stating that actual voices produced by artificial intelligence (“AI”) are subject to the prohibitions outlined in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) regarding taped or artificial voice calls. The Declaratory Ruling's instruction is currently applicable to all relevant phone calls as of February 2, 2024, the date of adoption. "The TCPA's restrictions on the use of 'artificial or prerecorded voice' encompass current AI technologies that generate human voices, such as 'voice cloning,'" according to the Declaratory Ruling. The Declaratory Ruling explicitly states that, in general, callers using AI-generated voice calls must: (1) obtain prior express consent or prior express written consent from the called party (unless there is an emergency or an exemption); (2) adhere to FCC rules requiring calls made using prerecorded or artificial voices to contain certain identification information and disclosures about the party responsible for initiating the calls; and (3) provide the ability to opt-out of call in accordance with the FCC's revocation of consent rules.