New senate bill proposes to punish makers of AI-generated deepfakes
Unauthorized artificial intelligence-powered recreations of people’s voices and images would be banned under a proposed bill by a bipartisan group of United States senators.
In an Oct. 11 press release, Democratic Senators Chris Coons and Amy Klobuchar, along with Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn and Thom Tillis, released a discussion draft of the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act.
Companies or individuals that create an unauthorized AI replica of someone — living or dead — would be liable for damages under the act along with platforms that knowingly host unauthorized AI copycats. Penalties would start at $5,000 per violation.
The bill allows for limited uses of unauthorized AI replicas protected by the First Amendment, including those used for news, as part of documentaries or for “comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, or parody.”
“Creators around the nation are calling on Congress to lay out clear policies regulating the use and impact of generative AI,” said Senator Coons in a statement. “Congress must strike the right balance to defend individual rights, abide by the First Amendment, and foster AI innovation and creativity.”
Senator Blackburn added the bill is a “good first step” to protect songwriters, actors, and U.S. creatives, who “deserve the right to own their name, image, and likeness (NIL).”
The draft bill comes amid a surge in songs created with the help of AI tools that emulate artists with hundreds hosted on streaming platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud.
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The track “Heart on my sleeve” by anonymous TikTok user “ghostwriter977” used AI vocals of artists Drake and The Weeknd and went viral earlier this year, garnering millions of views before it was struck from the platform.
AI-generated likenesses have also been a friction point in the Hollywood actor strikes and negotiations — with the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union backing the proposal.
THIS is the future: AI protections for voice and likeness, an invaluable tool for performers.
Thank you to Senator @ChrisCoons, Senator @MarshaBlackburn, @SenAmyKlobuchar and @SenThomTillis for driving the NO FAKES Act. https://t.co/g9fiKCbHHD
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) October 12, 2023
On Oct. 11, SAG-AFTRA said negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down, claiming the latter refused to “protect performers from being replaced by AI,” among other reasons.
In a statement the same day, the AMPTP said “it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction.”
On Sept. 27, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) ended its strike after nearly five months following the union reaching a deal with the AMPTP on AI usage in writer’s rooms, along with higher wages and fairer contracts.
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Making Britain better off will be “at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind” during her visit to China, the Treasury has said amid controversy over the trip.
Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned venture because of market turmoil at home.
The past week has seen a drop in the pound and an increase in government borrowing costs, which has fuelled speculation of more spending cuts or tax rises.
The Tories have accused the chancellor of having “fled to China” rather than explain how she will fix the UK’s flatlining economy, while the Liberal Democrats say she should stay in Britain and announce a “plan B” to address market volatility.
However, Ms Reeves has rejected calls to cancel the visit, writing in The Times on Friday night that choosing not to engage with China is “no choice at all”.
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The chancellor will be accompanied by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and other senior executives.
She will meet with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Beijing on Saturday to discuss financial services, trade and investment.
She will also “raise difficult issues”, including Chinese firms supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns over constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, the Treasury said.
But it did not mention whether Ms Reeves would raise the treatment of the Uyghur community, which Downing Street said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would do during his visit last year.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Pic: AP
On Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the trip, telling Sky News that the climbing cost of government borrowing was a “global trend” that had affected many countries, “most notably the United States”.
“We are still on track to be the fastest growing economy, according to the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Europe,” she told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast.
“China is the second-largest economy, and what China does has the biggest impact on people from Stockton to Sunderland, right across the UK, and it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with them.”
Read more – Ed Conway analysis: The chancellor’s gamble with China
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Nandy defends Reeves’ trip to China
However, former prime minister Boris Johnson said Ms Reeves had “been rumbled” and said she should “make her way to HR and collect her P45 – or stay in China”.
While in the country’s capital, Ms Reeves will also visit British bike brand Brompton’s flagship store, which relies heavily on exports to China, before heading to Shanghai for talks with representatives across British and Chinese businesses.
It is the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) since 2019, building on the Labour government’s plan for a “pragmatic” policy with the world’s second-largest economy.
Sir Keir Starmer was the first British prime minister to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping in six years at the G20 summit in Brazil last autumn.
Relations between the UK and China have become strained over the last decade as the Conservative government spoke out against human rights abuses and concerns grew over national security risks.
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How much do we trade with China?
Navigating this has proved tricky given China is the UK’s fourth largest single trading partner, with a trade relationship worth almost £113bn and exports to China supporting over 455,000 jobs in the UK in 2020, according to the government.
During the Tories’ 14 years in office, the approach varied dramatically from the “golden era” under David Cameron to hawkish aggression under Liz Truss, while Rishi Sunak vowed to be “robust” but resisted pressure from his own party to brand China a threat.
The Treasury said a stable relationship with China would support economic growth and that “making working people across Britain secure and better off is at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind”.
Ahead of her visit, Ms Reeves said: “By finding common ground on trade and investment, while being candid about our differences and upholding national security as the first duty of this government, we can build a long-term economic relationship with China that works in the national interest.”
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