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2 clusters · 4 sources · 4 days · First seen · Last updated

Texas political complaint over AI-generated ads

Overview

Texas State Representative Vikki Goodwin filed a criminal complaint against incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. The complaint, submitted to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, alleges Patrick violated a 2019 state law prohibiting deepfake videos in political advertisements within 30 days of an election.

The legal action stems from two campaign advertisements featuring AI-generated images of Goodwin at a University of Texas football game. In the videos, Goodwin appears to wear a shirt reading ‘taxes’ instead of ‘Texas’. Goodwin stated in a sworn affidavit that she did not perform or say the actions depicted, accusing Patrick of attempting to deceive voters.

A spokesperson for Patrick defended the content as ‘obvious parody produced to entertain’ and argued that no reasonable person would find them deceptive. The campaign also claimed the materials were not distributed within the prohibited 30-day window. The videos have been removed from social media.

Entities

Zohran Mamdani · New York State Democratic Party · Kathy Hochul · Dan Patrick · Bruce Blakeman

Timeline

  1. [POLITICS] 2 sources
    New York Democratic Party alleges illegal use of AI in Blakeman campaign ads

    The New York State Democratic Party has filed a complaint alleging Republican candidate Bruce Blakeman violated state law by using undisclosed AI-generated images in campaign advertisements.

  2. [POLITICS] 2 sources
    Dan Patrick faces criminal complaint over AI-generated political ads

    Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Vikki Goodwin filed a criminal complaint against Republican Dan Patrick, alleging his use of AI-generated deepfake ads violates Texas election laws.

Sources

fox4news.com · gilmermirror.com · troyrecord.com · whec.com