Consultant behind Biden AI robocall may face charges

A Democratic political consultant confirmed that he was behind robocalls last month that used an artificial intelligence impersonation of President Joe Biden to urge Democrats not to vote in the New Hampshire primary.

But the consultant, Steven Kramer, and the man he hired to produce the AI audio, an itinerant magician and technology and marketing consultant named Paul Carpenter, have different takes on how exactly the call came together.

Now Kramer may face criminal charges, lawsuits or both. He said he had received a subpoena from the Federal Communications Commission and would comply. But he declined to provide a copy, and the FCC would not confirm it. NBC News was first to report the involvement of Kramer and Carpenter.

Kramer, whose company is based in Alabama, described his motives loftily, saying he had wanted to draw attention to the potential abuse of artificial intelligence in campaigns.

“If I hadn't done this, no one would have done anything,” he said, adding that he had chosen the New Hampshire Democratic primary because it wasn't competitive and so his calls wouldn't affect the outcome. The FCC announced shortly after the primary that it would apply existing restrictions on calls using “artificial or prerecorded voices” to voices generated by AI.

But Carpenter said Kramer had told him he wanted the audio in order to assess the technology as a potential service for future clients, after a Thanksgiving party where Carpenter had made an AI impersonation of Sen. Lindsey Graham “saying something vulgar” as a joke. The two men were introduced through a mutual acquaintance last year, Carpenter said.

“He got caught, and now he's trying to make himself look like a good guy,” Carpenter said. He added that he'd had no idea Kramer would actually place the calls.

Kramer said that Carpenter's account was “categorically untrue” and that Carpenter was “milking his five minutes of fame.”

The impersonation of Biden's voice urged New Hampshire residents not to participate in the primary because “your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.” The caller ID was falsified to look as if it was from a former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

Kramer was working for Dean Phillips' Democratic presidential campaign around the time of the call, but he said the campaign had been unaware of his actions. Phillips has condemned him.

Carpenter provided to The New York Times an audio file of the call indicating that it was produced using an AI tool from ElevenLabs on Jan. 20 — three days before the New Hampshire primary — and a screenshot of a $149 Venmo payment that day from Bruce Kramer, who Steven Kramer said was a relative. Carpenter also provided a screenshot of a text message on Jan. 22 in which Steven Kramer shared an article about the calls and said, “Shhhhhhhh.”