Big Tech Companies Pledge to Fight Election Deepfakes but Free Speech Issues Remain

Major tech companies announced a new pact at the Munich Security Conference on Friday pledging to fight AI-generated fakes that are intended to deceive the public and influence elections. The press conference, which was livestreamed online, featured leaders from Big Tech firms who’ve been under immense pressure in recent years to address the misinformation that’s … Read more

Deepfake Robocalls Could be Outlawed After AI-Biden Gives New Hampshirites a Ring

A federal agency is pushing to outlaw AI-generated robocalls after criminals tried to disrupt New Hampshire’s Democratic primary with a deepfake phone call from President Biden. The phone call from our sitting President told voters to stay home last weekend in an “unlawful” attempt at voter suppression, according to the state’s Attorney General. Bruce Willis … Read more

Fake Biden robocall creator suspended from voice AI company ElevenLabs

With mainstream artificial intelligence tools on the rise at the cusp of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, AI-generated disinformation isn’t just a fear — it’s already a reality. On January 22, the New Hampshire Department of Justice released a statement that people received a recorded audio deepfake of Joe Biden, telling them not to vote … Read more

Researchers Say the Deepfake Biden Robocall Was Likely Made With Tools From AI Startup ElevenLabs

Last week, some voters in New Hampshire received an AI-generated robocall impersonating President Biden, telling them not to vote in the state’s primary election. It’s not clear who was responsible for the call, but two separate teams of audio experts tell WIRED it was likely created using technology from voice-cloning startup ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs markets its … Read more

Voice cloning startup ElevenLabs lands $80M, achieves unicorn status

There’s a lot of money in voice cloning. Case in point: ElevenLabs, a startup developing AI-powered tools to create and edit synthetic voices, today announced that it closed an $80 million Series B round co-led by prominent investors including Andreessen Horowitz, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and entrepreneur Daniel Gross. The round, which also had … Read more