{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-29T06:43:50.112Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"los-angeles","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-los-angeles-mayoral-candidate-campaign-files-complaints-over-super-pac-ai-voice-phone-line-speaking-as-her","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'filed a complaint against Thrive LA with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Callers hear an AI-generated voice that speaks in the first person as Raman and responds to questions'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'carries on a live conversation with callers'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"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)."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'AI was a tool to express our First Amendment right for political satire'; 'Nobody would believe it’s a real human being'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."}],"effects":[{"label":"candidate's voice and first-person words imitated by an AI phone line advertised in her name before an election; her campaign objects and files ethics complaints","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.foxla.com/news/fake-ai-voice-posing-nithya-raman-sparks-ethics-complaints-rick-caruso-backs-karen-bass-mayoral-race","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"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).","independence_group":"fox11-la-raman-oct-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://hoodline.com/2026/10/ai-voice-clone-posing-as-nithya-raman-pushes-fake-homeless-camp-pitch-campaign-says/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"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.","independence_group":"la-times-ktla-raman-oct-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["elections","public_life"],"unknowns":["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."],"geography":{"basis":"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.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"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.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"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.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"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","summary":"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.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-26","aiSystem":"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","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI voice agent","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"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).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"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.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-CA","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.foxla.com/news/fake-ai-voice-posing-nithya-raman-sparks-ethics-complaints-rick-caruso-backs-karen-bass-mayoral-race","primarySourceLabel":"FOX 11 Los Angeles, 26 October 2026: Fake AI voice posing as Nithya Raman draws ethics complaints","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-29T03:17:01.916284+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-29T03:17:01.916284+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["election","political-advertising","ai-voice","likeness-without-consent","los-angeles"]}]}