Schumer urges FCC to block Club for Growth's AI robocall petition before elections

On Oct 19, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer appealed to the Federal Communications Commission to deny a petition filed by the conservative advocacy group Club for Growth that would permit AI-generated political robocalls to cell phones without prior consent. Schumer argued such a change could enable campaigns to mimic opponents’ voices, creating misleading or outright false messages. Club for Growth president David McIntosh contended the FCC should treat political speech the same as routine calls about deliveries or appointments.

The petition, submitted as the group prepares to spend $175 million in the midterm races, describes a system where a human merely presses a button to send thousands of messages per hour. The FCC’s comment window closes on Oct 19, and the commission could rule before the Nov 3 election. Several consumer-rights groups and Democratic commissioner Anna Gomez have urged the FCC to reject the request, citing concerns over deepfakes and dark-money influence.