Consultant behind deepfaked Biden robocall indicted for Democratic primary scheme

Steve Kramer, a political consultant who admitted to NBC News that he deepfaked Joe Biden’s voice in a robocall that was sent out to thousands of New Hampshire voters in January 2024, has been indicted.

The robocall, which went out ahead of the first Democratic presidential primary in the US, in New Hampshire, used artificial intelligence to fake Biden’s voice telling voters to stay home and “save” their votes for the November general election.

Ten indictments have been returned on Kramer out of Rockingham county, including charges for bribing, intimidation and impersonation of candidates, TV station WMUR in New Hampshire reported. Similar charges were filed in Merrimack and Belknap counties in New Hampshire, where others reported receiving the robocall.

“It sounded like Joe Biden, and I was, like, ‘That’s weird,’ and then as I listened more, I’m like, ‘It doesn’t really sound like Joe Biden,’” Krista Zurek, who received one of the robocalls, told WMUR.

The robocall is the first reported deepfake to be used in national US politics. Various kinds of attempts at fakes in public life and politics have always been common – but deepfakes use artificial intelligence and various technological tools to copy voices or faces, for example, in ways that are often extremely convincing.

The incident in New Hampshire prompted the Federal Communications Commission to ban the use of robocalls – which utilize recorded voices on automated calls that dial multiple recipients simultaneously – using voices generated by artificial intelligence.

According to Kramer, he sent out the robocalls to advocate for the need to regulate artificial intelligence. He had previously worked as a contractor for Dean Phillips’ failed presidential campaign, but both