FTC Contemplates New Rule for AI-Driven Deepfake Impersonation

The FTC is seeking public comment on changes to its impersonation rules to address growing complaints about AI-driven impersonation, the agency announced Thursday. The FTC issued a supplemental NPRM that would prohibit such impersonation. It would extend protections of a new rule on government and business impersonation the commission expected to finalize Thursday. The FTC said it issued the supplemental notice in response to “surging complaints around impersonation fraud, as well as public outcry about the harms caused to consumers and to impersonated individuals.” AI-generated deepfakes could “turbocharge this scourge, and the FTC is committed to using all of its tools to detect, deter, and halt impersonation fraud,” the agency added. The new rule allows the FTC to seek monetary relief from scammers in federal court. The public comment period will open for 60 days once the supplemental rule is published in the Federal Register. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Thursday proposed legislation that would establish new penalties for AI-created deepfakes. The bill is included in her fiscal 2025 executive budget. It would create misdemeanor charges for “unauthorized uses of a person’s voice” and establish a private right of action to seek damages for harms associated with digitally manipulated images. The bill would “require disclosures on digitized political communications published within 60 days of an election.”