Musk Funded Texas Super PAC Uses AI Robocalls Against Talarico

CNN reports that Lone Star Liberty, a Texas super PAC supporting Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, is using conversational AI robocalls to attack Democratic candidate James Talarico. The group received $10 million from Elon Musk.

The calls feature an AI generated voice named Jennifer that identifies itself as a virtual staffer. It asks voters whom they support and responds to their answers in real time. Nomorobo first detected the calls on October 23 from dozens of phone numbers and have reached a relatively small number of landlines, according to Nomorobo.

The caller claims Talarico took $11 million from data center interests. A spokesperson for the PAC said the figure was based on a Daily Caller report on donations to groups supporting Talarico from people with ties to the data center industry, including a $10 million contribution from Reid Hoffman. Recordings show the system can respond to questions but sometimes stops, restarts, or repeats talking points when interrupted.

Federal law generally requires prior consent for robocalls using artificial or prerecorded voices to mobile phones. The Federal Communications Commission is considering a petition from Club for Growth that would loosen those restrictions for political calls.