As the 2024 election cycle ramps up, at least 26 states have passed or are considering bills regulating the use of generative AI in election-related communications, a new analysis by Axios shows.

Why it matters: The review lays bare a messy patchwork of rules around the use of genAI in politics, as experts increasingly sound the alarm on the evolving technology’s power to sway or disenfranchise voters. 

There have already been instances of generative AI being “used to confuse — and even suppress — voters,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Axios in an email.

“I don’t think genAI developers or platforms are taking the misuse potential serious enough,” added Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Catch up quick: In January, a spate of fake robocalls in New Hampshire used an AI-generated impersonation of Biden’s voice to urge Democrats not to vote in the state’s primary.

In another high-profile incident, last July a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP primary used AI to imitate Trump’s voice in an ad attacking him. The Trump campaign slammed the ad as a “desperate attempt” to “deceive the American public.”

The big picture: There are few federal guardrails in place to regulate the use of AI — even President Biden’s AI executive order is largely voluntary, with little enforcement power.

Senators have introduced two bills to regulate genAI in election campaigns, but they’ve yet to pass — even as many Americans fear the technology will hurt elections.

You can read more at: https://www.axios.com/2024/09/22/ai-regulation-election-laws-map