The New Hampshire lawyer common mentioned on Tuesday that his workplace, alongside federal officers and different state attorneys common, had recognized the corporate behind robocalls last month that used an impersonation of President Biden’s voice to induce Democrats to not vote within the state’s major.
The lawyer common, John M. Formella, mentioned that the calls had originated with Life Company, a Texas-based firm owned by Walter Monk. Mr. Formella famous that the calls had been routed by way of a supplier known as Lingo Telecom.
“We will not tolerate any action that seeks to undermine the integrity of our elections and our democratic process,” Mr. Formella mentioned in a information convention. “The message to any person or company who would attempt to engage in these activities is clear and it’s simple: Don’t try it.”
Mr. Monk, Life Company and Lingo Telecom didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Based on a New York Occasions evaluation of authorized and marketing campaign finance data, a subsidiary of Life Company known as Voice Broadcasting Corp., which identifies Mr. Monk as its founder on its website, has acquired quite a few funds from the Republican Celebration’s state committee in Delaware, but additionally funds from congressional candidates in each events.
Mr. Formella’s workplace has opened a prison investigation, despatched Life Company a cease-and-desist letter, and despatched each Life Company and Lingo Telecom subpoenas and notices to protect paperwork, he mentioned. The letter, a replica of which his workplace offered to The New York Occasions, accuses Life Company of violating a New Hampshire legislation that prohibits efforts to “prevent or deter” somebody from voting.
The robocalls advised New Hampshire residents — utilizing a voice that was almost certainly generated by synthetic intelligence to sound like Mr. Biden’s — that they need to not take part within the state’s major on Jan. 23 as a result of “your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.” Voting in a major doesn’t stop anybody from casting a poll within the common election.
The caller ID was falsified to make it look as if the calls got here from Kathleen Sullivan, a former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Democratic Celebration, who filed a criticism with the state’s lawyer common.
Mr. Formella, within the information convention, additionally mentioned that the Federal Communications Fee had issued a cease-and-desist letter to Lingo Telecom, which an F.C.C. spokesman confirmed, and that the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Process Power, a coalition of state attorneys common, had despatched a warning letter and was “taking other steps” for potential civil litigation.
He mentioned he needed to “assure the public that we take this seriously and that this is one of our most important priorities,” and to “send a strong message of deterrence to any person or entity who would attempt to undermine our elections through A.I. or other means.”
A cellphone quantity listed for Life Company went on to voice mail on Tuesday, and a message left there was not instantly returned. Mr. Monk didn’t instantly reply to makes an attempt to succeed in him by way of electronic mail and a cellphone name. A message left at a quantity listed for Lingo Telecom additionally was not instantly returned, and neither was an electronic mail to the corporate’s most important informational deal with.
Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Mr. Biden’s marketing campaign supervisor, mentioned the marketing campaign was grateful for the New Hampshire lawyer common’s actions. “Disinformation aimed at suppressing voting and deliberately undermining free and fair elections is an unacceptable threat,” she mentioned.
Some disinformation consultants fear that the robocalls in New Hampshire had been an early instance of a tactic that can grow to be extra frequent with the rise of synthetic intelligence, which makes it more and more simple to create pretend audio or movies that convincingly imitate public figures.
Simply final week, the F.C.C. chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, proposed that the company formally designate A.I.-generated voices as “artificial” beneath the Phone Shopper Safety Act, which might make it unlawful to make use of them in robocalls.
Ken Bensinger contributed reporting, and Susan Campbell Beachy contributed analysis.
