FEC moves toward potentially regulating AI deepfakes in campaign ads

By ALI SWENSON

The Federal Election Commission has begun a process to potentially regulate AI-generated deepfakes in political ads ahead of the 2024 election. Advocates say the move would safeguard voters against a particularly insidious form of election disinformation. The FEC’s unanimous procedural vote on Thursday advances a petition asking it to regulate ads that use artificial intelligence to misrepresent political opponents as saying or doing something they didn’t — a stark issue that is already being highlighted in the current 2024 GOP presidential primary. The panel’s vote shows the agency’s intent to consider the question, but it will not decide whether to actually develop rules governing the ads until after a 60-day public comment window.