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Low reported severity

Los Angeles: mayoral candidate Nithya Raman's campaign files ethics complaints over a super PAC's AI voice phone line that speaks as her; PAC calls it satire

In October 2026 Thrive LA, a super PAC backing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, put up signs and social media adverts for a phone line billed as "Nithya Raman Realty", after the city council member challenging Bass for mayor. Callers reach an AI-generated voice that speaks in the first person as Raman and converses with them; on a FOX 11 call it said "I'm as imaginary as my campaign promises". On 26 October Raman's campaign filed complaints with the California Fair Political Practices Commission and the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, alleging the PAC used AI to impersonate her and fabricate her words without proper AI and funding disclosures, in breach of state election law. Thrive LA's executive director said AI was a tool for political satire, that callers would know it is AI, and, per the Los Angeles Times as relayed by Hoodline, called the complaint false and absurd. The complaints are allegations; no finding has been reported.

AI system
Unidentified AI voice agent
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
26 October 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Elections · Public life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources
6 claims: 1 corroborated, 5 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: An AI-generated voice on a phone line run by the Thrive LA super PAC that speaks in the first person as the candidate and responds to callers' questions, according to FOX 11 and the Los Angeles Times; the PAC says AI was its tool

What Happened

The phone line. Thrive LA, a super PAC supporting Mayor Karen Bass, placed signs around Los Angeles directing voters to call a number advertised as belonging to "Nithya Raman Realty" (FOX 11); the Los Angeles Times, as relayed by Hoodline, describes posters styled as property adverts showing Raman with a tent under the slogan "Keeping tents on our streets". FOX 11 reports that callers hear an AI-generated voice that speaks in the first person as Raman and responds to questions. On FOX 11's call the voice said "I'm as imaginary as my campaign promises" and, asked whether it was supposed to sound like Raman, answered "Yes. That's the point." According to the Los Angeles Times as relayed by Hoodline, the voice carries on a live conversation with callers and does not say it is not a real person unless asked, when it identifies itself as a fictional AI.

The complaints. Raman's campaign says it filed complaints on Monday 26 October with the California Fair Political Practices Commission and the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, alleging that the PAC uses artificial intelligence to impersonate Raman and fabricate responses without properly disclosing that the voice is AI-generated or who pays for it. The complaints cite California Elections Code section 20012 on maliciously distributed fabricated candidate audio within 30 days of an election and Government Code section 84514 on disclosure of AI-generated content in political adverts (FOX 11). A campaign spokesperson called it "both sad and illegal" to be "cloning" Raman's voice and "manufacturing her words". FOX 11 notes that the complaints are allegations and do not establish that Thrive LA broke the law.

The PAC's response. Thrive LA executive director Ana Dahan told FOX 11 that AI was a tool for political satire protected by the First Amendment and that anyone who called would know it is AI. The Los Angeles Times, as relayed by Hoodline, reports that she called the complaint false and absurd, said the group properly disclosed its spending, and that the group plans to keep running the ads through Election Day.

Reported harm

A mayoral candidate's voice and first-person words were imitated by an AI phone line advertised in her name a week before the election; her campaign says it fabricates her words and deceives voters and has filed ethics complaints (FOX 11; Hoodline).

Outcome

Ongoing

Raman's campaign filed complaints with the California Fair Political Practices Commission and the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission on 26 October 2026 (FOX 11; Hoodline citing the Los Angeles Times and KTLA). The City Ethics Commission did not immediately respond to the Los Angeles Times and says generally that it cannot confirm or deny complaints (Hoodline). Thrive LA says the ads are protected satire and plans to keep running them through Election Day on 3 November (Hoodline citing the Los Angeles Times). No finding is reported as of 29 October 2026.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool produced the voice, and whether it was cloned from recordings of the candidate.
  • When the phone line started operating.
  • How the Fair Political Practices Commission and the City Ethics Commission will respond.
  • Whether any caller believed the voice was the candidate.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. FOX 11 called the advertised line and heard an AI-generated voice speaking in the first person as Raman and answering questions, and the PAC's executive director said AI was the group's tool for the satire. The voice imitating the candidate and generating words in her name is what her campaign objects to. The specific AI product is not named.

6 claims: 1 corroborated, 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Raman's campaign says it filed complaints on 26 October 2026 with the California Fair Political Practices Commission and the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission against Thrive LA, alleging the PAC uses AI to impersonate her without properly disclosing that the voice is AI-generated or who is paying.

Causal attribution. The campaign's allegation; the complaints themselves were not read.

  • foxla.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The Raman campaign says it filed complaints Monday with the California Fair Political Practices Commission and the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission against Thrive LA PAC'; 'The campaign alleges the group is using artificial intelligence to impersonate Raman'
  • hoodline.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'filed a complaint against Thrive LA with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission'
Corroborated Callers to the line advertised as hers reach an AI-generated voice that speaks in the first person as Raman and converses with them.

Causal attribution. FOX 11 called the line itself; the Los Angeles Times account (via Hoodline) describes the same behaviour. The PAC confirms AI was its tool (c4).

Reported On a FOX 11 call the voice said it was as imaginary as the candidate's campaign promises and, asked whether it was supposed to sound like Raman, said that was the point.

Causal attribution. FOX 11's own call.

  • foxla.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'I’m as imaginary as my campaign promises'; 'When asked whether it was supposed to sound like Raman, the voice responded, "Yes. That’s the point."'
Reported Thrive LA's executive director said AI was a tool for political satire and that callers would know the voice is AI.

Causal attribution. The operator's own statement that it used AI to produce the voice.

  • foxla.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'AI was a tool to express our First Amendment right for political satire'; 'Nobody would believe it’s a real human being'
Reported According to the Los Angeles Times as relayed by Hoodline, the voice does not say it is not a real person unless a caller asks, and the PAC's executive director called the complaint false and absurd and said the ads would run through Election Day.

Causal attribution. Second-hand account of the Los Angeles Times reporting.

  • hoodline.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'does not clarify that it isn'; 'identifies itself as a fictional AI'; 'calling the complaint false and absurd'; 'plans to keep running the ads through Election Day'
Reported The complaints cite California election-law provisions on fabricated candidate audio and AI disclosure; they are allegations and do not establish that Thrive LA broke the law.

Causal attribution. Status of the legal complaints as reported by FOX 11.

  • foxla.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The complaint cites California Elections Code Section 20012'; 'The complaints represent allegations by the Raman campaign'; 'they do not establish that Thrive LA violated the law'

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29; no translation needed. FOX 11 report including its own call to the line and an interview with the PAC's executive director; also read through its MSN copy (AA2g907c). Applies to s1.

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29; no translation needed. Hoodline aggregation that attributes its account to the Los Angeles Times and KTLA; treated as dependent on those reports, which were not read directly. Applies to s2.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.

The signs and phone line concern the Los Angeles mayoral election, and the complaints were filed with California and Los Angeles bodies (FOX 11; Hoodline). No court is involved.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-29: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): FOX 11 heard the AI voice speak as the candidate on the advertised line, the PAC says AI was its tool, and the candidate's campaign objected and filed ethics complaints. The complaints are allegations and the PAC calls the line satire.

People described

Nithya Raman, a Los Angeles city council member running for mayor, whose voice and first-person words the AI phone line imitated, according to her campaign

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person: the candidate, whose campaign objected and filed complaints. Callers to the line are not counted because no source reports harm to a caller.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#election#political-advertising#ai-voice#likeness-without-consent#los-angeles

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Los Angeles: mayoral candidate Nithya Raman's campaign files ethics complaints over a super PAC's AI voice phone line that speaks as her; PAC calls it satire. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-los-angeles-mayoral-candidate-campaign-files-complaints-over-super-pac-ai-voice-phone-line-speaking-as-her

BibTeX

@misc{2026_los_angeles_mayoral_candidate_campaign_files_complaints_over_super_pac_ai_voice_phone_line_speaking_as_her,
  title = {Los Angeles: mayoral candidate Nithya Raman's campaign files ethics complaints over a super PAC's AI voice phone line that speaks as her; PAC calls it satire},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-los-angeles-mayoral-candidate-campaign-files-complaints-over-super-pac-ai-voice-phone-line-speaking-as-her}
}

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