Prerecorded, artificial and AI-generated voice calls

The voice prong

Section 227(b)(1)(A) prohibits calls to cell phones, emergency lines and similar numbers made using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice without prior express consent. Section 227(b)(1)(B) prohibits calls to residential lines using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without prior express consent, subject to FCC exemptions. The two prongs are separate. A call made by a human agent dialing by hand but playing a recording is a prerecorded-voice call. A call made by an ATDS with a live agent is an ATDS call. A call that is both is both.

Which calls it covers

Any call where the voice the called party hears is not a live human speaking in real time: a recorded sales message, an automated appointment reminder, an interactive voice response system, a voicemail drop, and, since 2024, a synthesised or cloned voice. The statute does not define "artificial"; the FCC reads it according to its ordinary meaning as a voice that is not a natural human voice produced live. Soundboard technology, where an agent plays pre-recorded clips in response to the called party, was treated by FTC staff as prerecorded for Telemarketing Sales Rule purposes in a 2016 opinion letter.

What consent is needed

The FCC's rules distinguish by purpose.

Prior express written consent is defined in § 64.1200(f) and explained in the consent entry. The essential elements are a signed written agreement, electronic signature allowed, that clearly authorises the specific seller to deliver advertisements or telemarketing messages using an artificial or prerecorded voice to the number designated, with a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the person is not required to consent as a condition of purchase.

Required content and opt-out

Under § 227(d) and § 64.1200(b), a prerecorded or artificial voice message must state at the beginning the identity of the business, individual or entity responsible for initiating the call, and during or after the message the telephone number of that entity. For telemarketing messages, the rules since 2013 require an automated, interactive opt-out mechanism announced at the start of the message, so the called party can press a key and be added to the caller's do-not-call list during the call. Where the message is left as voicemail, it must include a toll-free number that connects to an automated opt-out.

AI-generated voice, 2024

On 8 February 2024, in response to petitions and to the use of a cloned presidential voice in New Hampshire primary robocalls the previous month, the FCC issued a declaratory ruling that the TCPA's restrictions on "artificial" voices encompass current AI technologies that generate human voices, including voice cloning. The practical effect was to confirm, not to expand: a call placed by a voice model to a cell phone without prior express consent violates § 227(b)(1)(A), and a marketing call of that kind needs prior express written consent. The ruling also gave state attorneys general a clear basis to pursue AI robocalls under the TCPA.

The ruling does not address AI agents that converse in real time in detail, but its reasoning applies: if the voice is generated rather than a live human, it is artificial. A business considering conversational voice AI for outbound calls should assume the prerecorded-voice consent rules apply in full.

Ringless voicemail

Ringless voicemail delivers a recorded message directly to a voicemail box without ringing the phone. Providers argued it was not a "call". In November 2022 the FCC ruled that ringless voicemail is a call subject to the TCPA's prerecorded-voice restrictions, so a marketing voicemail drop to a cell phone needs prior express written consent like any other prerecorded telemarketing call. Several courts had reached the same conclusion earlier.

Exemptions

The FCC has exempted certain non-marketing prerecorded calls from the consent requirement or applied lighter conditions: calls by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit, HIPAA-covered healthcare messages, package delivery notifications, certain financial institution fraud and data-breach alerts, and residential informational calls, in each case limited in number per month and subject to opt-out. The limits were tightened by rules adopted in 2020 under the TRACED Act. A caller relying on an exemption has to fit inside its conditions exactly; a message that includes any advertising content loses the exemption.