Talarico Deepfake Proves Urgent Need for Federal AI Protections
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate GOP shared an AI-generated video of Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. Tweeted by his political opponents, the video appears intentionally designed to deceive voters.
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“This deepfake is a disgrace and the NRSC should put it down immediately. Political deepfakes are a profound threat to our democracy, because there is no realistic way for voters to understand they are seeing fake representations rather than real video. This deepfake has an ‘AI generated’ watermark, but it’s all but invisible – sort of like an admission of wrongdoing, more than an effort at transparency.”
Public Citizen is tracking state laws regulating deepfakes in elections and working with state legislators to enact protections in the absence of federal regulation.