The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the NO FAKES Act by voice vote on Thursday.
Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the bill, which would create new protections against AI-enabled replicas and deepfakes and allow people to sue over the unauthorized use of their likeness; Blackburn is working with the White House on a package that could include the measure.
The latest version of the bill has earned support from YouTube, TikTok and OpenAI as well as Disney and the actors' union SAG-AFTRA, and it was originally introduced last Congress.
“It is imperative that we put this national standard in place for voice and visual likeness protection of creators,” Blackburn said. “I’ve always said America needs one set of rules for AI, and NO FAKES is a critical component of that rulebook,” she added.
Other bills that could be included in Blackburn's package are the Kids Online Safety Act and the App Store Accountability Act, and such a package could ultimately block some state laws on AI, though it is not yet clear how aggressively the measure would preempt state action on narrow issues such as verifying users’ ages on social media.
A coalition of free speech groups including the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent a letter to Judiciary Committee leadership urging members not to advance the NO FAKES Act in its current form.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., expressed concerns about the bill’s effects on free speech; Cruz pointed to former reality television star Spencer Pratt, who ran a series of AI-generated videos often without disclosure during his failed Los Angeles mayoral campaign, including portrayals of himself as Batman and Luke Skywalker. “I think of the ad Spencer Pratt ran in the LA campaign, which I thought were hysterical and I think are a good example of what should be protected and not fall within a bill like this,” Cruz said.