The individual responsible for the Biden robocall scam, which circulated prior to the New Hampshire primary election, has come forward in an exclusive interview with NBC News. The man discussed his motive behind the AI-generated robocall.
Steve Kramer claims to have pulled the stunt in order to bring attention to the dangers of AI ahead of the 2024 election. Kramer compared himself to American Revolutionary heroes in the interview.
United States officials believe the robocall incident marks the first attempt to interfere with an election process by using artificial intelligence.
The robocall impersonating President Joe Biden was sent to 20,000 voters in January before the New Hampshire primary.
The call told voters to “save their vote for November” in an attempt to deter primary voters from showing up to the polls. In the beginning of the investigation, authorities didn’t know who made the call. However, Kramer has recently claimed responsibility for the operation.
Kramer, a long-time election campaign employee, was working for Rep. Dean Phillips, the Democratic challenger to Biden in New Hampshire’s primary. Kramer paid a magician $150 to create a Biden voice message, according to Venmo transactions and text messages shared with NBC News.
Paul Carpenter, the magician, was first to admit involvement to NBC before Kramer came forward to confirm.
Before deploying Biden’s fake call, Kramer first commissioned a fake call that impersonated Sen. Lindsey Graham as a test.
Authorities in New Hampshire are investigating the robocall for potentially violating state laws against voter suppression. Kramer said he received a subpoena from the Federal Communications Commission and welcomes the House of Representatives to call on him to publicly testify.
“This is a way for me to make a difference, and I have,” Kramer told NBC News in part. “I’m not afraid to testify, I know why I did everything. If I had come out right away, it takes away from the goal of the call. Even individuals acting alone can quickly and easily use AI for misleading and disruptive purposes.”
Several news outlets previously reported Life Co., a Texas telemarketing company, was linked to delivering the fake call. Kramer said the company had no knowledge of the content of the call prior to its delivery and he’d use the company again, except it is now done with his business.
