FCC Declares TCPA Restrictions Apply To AI-Generated Calls

On February 8, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) released a Declaratory Ruling to clarify that telemarketing and other calls made to consumers using certain types of artificial intelligence are subject to restrictions set forth in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and therefore are unlawful unless the caller has the requisite consent from the consumer recipient.

Specifically, the FCC concluded that "AI technologies that resemble human voices and/or generate call content using a prerecorded voice" fall within the scope of "artificial or prerecorded voice" calls that are regulated under the TCPA. In reaching this conclusion, the FCC focused on the ability of AI technologies to simulate or "emulate real or artificially created human voices for telephone calls to consumers," and how such capabilities might be used in a way that is harmful to consumers. The FCC did not delineate exactly what "technologies" are encompassed in the