WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission declined on Friday to grant a petition seeking permission for political groups to deploy AI-generated voices in robocalls, maintaining the restrictions it adopted in 2024 under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The petition asked regulators to carve out an exemption allowing campaigns and advocacy organisations to use synthetic voices in automated calls provided they included disclosures. The FCC had ruled in February 2024 that AI-generated voices in robocalls are 'artificial' under the TCPA, requiring prior express consent from recipients.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and fellow commissioners had warned repeatedly that cloned voices could be used to impersonate candidates and mislead voters. The agency acted in 2024 after a fake robocall mimicking President Joe Biden urged New Hampshire primary voters to stay home, leading to a $6 million proposed fine against the operative responsible.

The decision carries weight ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections, when campaign call volumes typically surge. Consumer advocacy groups including Public Knowledge had urged the commission to keep the ban intact, arguing that disclosure requirements would be difficult to enforce and easy to strip from forwarded audio.

Telecommunications industry representatives and some political consultants had argued that a regulated exemption would provide legal clarity for legitimate uses, such as accessibility features and multilingual outreach. The commission signalled it remained open to further rulemaking on narrow applications but was unwilling to loosen the core prohibition this close to a national election.