A New Orleans-based political consultant who admitted to creating robocalls using an AI-generated voice of President Joe Biden has been found not guilty of all charges by a New Hampshire jury.
New Hampshire Public Radio reports that Steven Kramer, who previously worked for Democratic presidential challenger Dean Phillips, faced 22 felony charges—11 counts of voter suppression and 11 counts of impersonating a political candidate. The charges stemmed from a series of robocalls sent to thousands of New Hampshire voters just before the 2024 presidential primary, urging them to skip the primary and “save their vote for the November election.” The calls featured a computer-generated voice nearly identical to President Biden’s.
Kramer has maintained that his intent was to highlight the growing risks of artificial intelligence in politics, and testified during his trial in Laconia that the stunt was a deliberate warning about the technology’s misuse.
Prosecutors from multiple counties consolidated their efforts into a single case, arguing Kramer’s actions were a direct attempt to mislead voters and interfere with the democratic process. The jury disagreed, delivering an acquittal on all counts in Belknap County Superior Court on Friday.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella acknowledged the verdict, stating, “We will continue to work diligently to address the challenges posed by emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to protect the integrity of our elections.”
Though acquitted criminally, Kramer still faces consequences. In September 2024, the Federal Communications Commission fined him $6 million for allegedly spoofing the caller ID to make the robocalls appear as though they came from a well-known New Hampshire Democrat. Lingo Telecom, the provider that transmitted the calls, agreed to a $1 million settlement for its role.
The Dean Phillips campaign has denied any involvement in the scheme and distanced itself from Kramer after his arrest.
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