Voice actors lobbying on AI

From: POLITICO Influence - Wednesday Dec 13,2023 12:01 am

Dec 12, 2023

Presented by

With Daniel Lippman

VOICE ACTORS LOBBY UP: The actors who lend their voices to animated characters, video games, commercials and audiobooks are the latest sector of the workforce turning to K Street for help containing the potential upheaval to the industry posed by the rise of artificial intelligence.

— The National Association of Voice Actors last month hired Platinum Advisors to work on image, voice and likeness issues on behalf of the trade group. Entertainment lobbyist Erik Huey, Rob Smith, Jessica Aune and Justin Toy will work on the account for NAVA, according to the disclosure.

— As governments around the globe have worked to stand up a regulatory regime for AI, “we've been finding that voice specifically, or separately, was not getting the attention that we hoped it would,” NAVA founder and President Tim Friedlander told PI, with voice likeness often less protected than image likeness or image and voice likeness jointly.

— People “realize that the image itself is a very unique identifier of somebody, but voice doesn't get quite treated … the same way,” he argued, adding that NAVA had been engaged with negotiations for voice AI rules in Europe and decided to do the same in Washington.

— NAVA launched a campaign in May calling for safeguards for voice actors, including the right to consent to use of their voice for any use including AI, clear terms governing and keeping tabs on the use of actors’ voices in training AI systems or the use or distribution of AI or synthetic voice, and fair compensation for use and licensing of their voice. Draft legislation circulating around the Senate would give voice likeness its own protected category, while a bill from Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and John Kennedy (R-La.) would require AI content to be labeled.

— In October, Friedlander participated in an FTC roundtable on AI and its impacts on the creative economy during which he made the case for voice likeness protections as a consumer issue.

— “It's difficult enough to compete against other humans,” Friedlander said, according to a transcript of the hearing. “Now mom and pop voice actors across the country have to compete against digital clones of themselves and against multimillion and billion dollar tech companies.”

— He told the FTC that it’s possible to create synthetic voices using as little as three seconds of audio from a voice actor, and pointed to instances where actors had their voices cloned and used in adult content or to make it appear as if an actor had made racist and homophobic comments; he also pointed to a recent instance in which actor Tom Hanks had to denounce a commercial that featured “an AI version of me.”

— Friedlander added that the issue is even more urgent with elections coming up next year. “We know that synthetic voices will be used, they have been used, and it's possible for anybody to use a synthetic voice for disinformation,” he said. “And no one, a voice actor or anybody in general, wants to be the recognizable voice of disinformation in this coming election.”

— Platinum Advisors also represents SAG-AFTRA, which represents voice actors and last month ended its longest-ever strike in which the impacts of AI were a key topic of bargaining, as well as Sony’s gaming arm, Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Happy Tuesday and welcome to PI. Send K Street tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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SPEAKING OF: “Voters in south-central Pennsylvania began getting calls over the weekend from a completely artificial person campaigning on behalf of a Democratic congressional candidate — in what its creators believe is the first interactive AI-powered political phone campaign,” POLITICO’s Rebecca Kern, Mohar Chatterjee and Madison Fernandez report.

— “‘Hello. My name is Ashley, and I’m an artificial intelligence volunteer for Shamaine Daniels’ run for Congress,’ the calls begin. Daniels is running to unseat House Republican Rep. Scott Perry. Pennsylvania’s 10th district is a top target for Democrats next year as they look to chip away at Republicans’ slim majority and flip the House.”

— “The calls represent the cutting edge of how a new wave of artificial intelligence platforms are shaping politics. … Although the use of AI has raised concerns among security experts and ethicists, it is subject to relatively few rules, with Congress facing an uphill battle to pass any laws regulating AI before the 2024 elections. The Federal Election Commission has collected public comments on a petition to regulate deceptive AI content in campaign ads but hasn’t announced any actions yet.”

— “The robotic volunteer was built by a startup called Civox, run by co-founders based in London and San Francisco. It answers questions about Daniels, her policy positions and her opponent Perry in a slightly metallic female voice designed to remind recipients they’re talking to an AI, according to test calls with POLITICO.”

HYDROGEN SPARKS A LOBBYING FRENZY: “The number of companies and organizations lobbying the federal government on issues related to hydrogen increased nearly tenfold since President Joe Biden (D) took office — from about two dozen at the end of 2020 to more than 200 this year,” OpenSecrets’ Jimmy Cloutier reports.

— “Fossil fuel companies, which have promoted hydrogen as a catch-all solution to climate change, rank among the top spenders and outnumber clients from every industry, including the renewable energy sector … Thirty-two oil and gas producers reported lobbying on hydrogen, among other issues, and spent a combined $41.3 million on federal lobbying efforts this year, as of Sept. 30.”

— “The lobbying blitz comes as the Biden administration prepares to direct billions of dollars in federal subsidies to scale up hydrogen production to decarbonize the U.S. economy. Unlike coal, oil and gas, hydrogen does not release planet-warming greenhouse gases when burned,” but climate hawks are pressing the administration to focus the tax incentives on hydrogen produced using renewable energy.

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GIVE ‘EM HELLER: Crisis comms specialist Risa Heller has been advising Harvard University on anti-Semitism in recent weeks and played a role in prepping Harvard President Claudine Gay for the disastrous congressional hearing last week, three people familiar with the matter told Daniel.

— Heller was hired by the university to work on crisis comms as institutional tensions rose in the weeks following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Heller played a minor role in Gay’s hearing prep, according to two of the sources, and has since advised Harvard on how to deal with the fallout from the hearing. She declined to comment.

— Heller is a Chuck Schumer alum and veteran crisis comms pro who has represented such boldface names as former CNN head Jeff Zucker, hedge-fund maven Ray Dalio and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. She was part of a high-powered team including PR giant Edelman and the law firm WilmerHale that failed to stave off a national uproar after Gay testified that it “depends on the context” whether calling for Jewish genocide violates Harvard’s code of conduct. Gay later apologized.

WHO’S FUNDRAISING WITH THE CHAMBER: Top Republicans in Congress aren’t shy about their criticism of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, traditionally one of the party’s staunchest allies, but other members of the House GOP Conference remain cozy with the business group, with nearly a dozen trekking to the Chamber’s Hill outpost last week to fundraise.

— Spotted at the reception were former GOP congressman-turned-Chamber head of government affairs Evan Jenkins, Chamber chief policy officer Neil Bradley and senior political strategist Ashlee Rich Stephenson and Reps. Juan Ciscomani (Ariz.), John Duarte (Calif.), David Valadao (Calif.), Mike Garcia (Calif.), Young Kim (Calif.), Michelle Steel (Calif.), Brad Finstad (Minn.), Tom Kean Jr. (N.J.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Marc Molinaro (N.Y.), and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.).

— The Chamber is separately prepping a seven-figure ad buy to support its allies on the Hill. The business lobby is still firming up the 15-20 districts that will be targeted by the ads, which urge viewers to thank their representative for being a leader working to “turn things around” amid political chaos in Washington.

TUFFIN RETURNS TO LEAD HEALTH INSURERS: “Mike Tuffin, who oversees the advocacy for insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, is returning to AHIP as its chief executive,” our Megan Wilson reports.

— “Tuffin, who worked as head of communications at AHIP from 2003 to 2012, will return to the group on Jan. 8. He's been the senior vice president for external affairs at UnitedHealth Group since 2015 and, before that, was a managing director at public affairs firm APCO Worldwide.”

— “Julie Simon Miller, who has served as the group’s interim leader since September, will return to her previous post as its general counsel. Matt Eyles, who led the organization since June 2018, announced earlier this year he would step down in the fall.”

SPOTTED last night at a birthday fundraiser for Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) hosted by Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough at their PAC office, per a tipster: McClellan and Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.).

— And at the Motion Picture Association last night for a special screening of “Dumb Money,” the story of the GameStop stock frenzy, which featured a Q&A with actor Paul Dano and screenwriters and executive producers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, per a tipster: Schumer, Andrew Reinsdorf of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Jon Deuser and Bob Hickmott of The Smith-Free Group, Gail MacKinnon and Katherine Grayson of MPA, Jonathan Mantz of BGR Group, Lyndon Boozer of Capitol Counsel, Susan Wheeler of Sen. Mike Crapo’s (R-Idaho) office and Mark Irion of IronRock Advisors.

A message from Electronic Payments Coalition:

Jobs Report

— Mike Stankiewicz is now a senior director at Proof Strategies. He was previously director of media and public relations at Brady: United Against Gun Violence.

— Andrew Remo has joined the American Council of Life Insurers as vice president of retirement security. He was previously director of federal and state legislative affairs at the American Retirement Association.

— The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee named Heather Williams its next president. She’s been serving as interim president since January and before that was executive director at the DLCC.

— Patrick Fleming is now director of federal policy and external affairs at TechNet. He previously was a principal at PF Consulting and is a Mike Pompeo alum.

— The National Independent Talent Organization has named Nathaniel Marro its first managing director. He’s been serving as head of NITO’s ticket reform taskforce.

— Ming Lewis is deputy director of email and SMS for the Biden campaign. She was previously an associate vice president at MissionWired.

— Chad Sydnor has been promoted to lead the defense practice at Cassidy & Associates.

— Tim Ursprung is joining Venable’s financial services lobbying team from Tonio Burgos & Associates. He previously worked for former Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).

— Alex Glass and André Crombie are joining Climate Power. Glass will be managing director of communications and previously was senior vice president at GMMB. Crombie is deputy managing director of states and previously oversaw culture, training and management at DOE’s Office of the Under Secretary for Infrastructure. Lydia Paver has also been promoted to managing director of research.

— Adrienne Elrod recently departed the CHIPS Program Office at the Commerce Department, where she served as external and government affairs director. She is relaunching Elrod Strategies, where she will advise corporate and political clients on strategic comms, public affairs and government relations.

— Matt Keelen, Eileen Stuart and Samir Kapadia have all been promoted to managing principals at the Vogel Group.

— Morgyn Greer is now director of finance for state programs at GOPAC. She previously was finance coordinator at the Republican Attorneys General Association.

— Tanuj Deora, Julie Taylor, Bret Scott and Kate Merson are joining ev.energy. Deora will be senior vice president of commercial and previously worked in the White House’s federal sustainability office. Taylor will be vice president of global partnerships and previously was head of EVSE for North America at Rexel. Scott will be head of automotive and previously was at Wejo. Merson will be director of grid services and previously was at Enervee.

— Maria Ghazal will become the next president and CEO of the Healthcare Leadership Council. She’s currently senior vice president and counsel at the Business Roundtable.

— Rachel Eason has joined Strategic Elements as communications and public affairs director. She was previously director of legislative support services for the Minnesota House of Representatives.

New Joint Fundraisers

PAUL HUDSON VICTORY COMMITTEE (Paul Hudson for Congress, WEST MICHIGAN PAC)

Rulli Victory Fund (Rulli for Ohio, Ohio Valley Leadership PAC)

New PACs

Blue Values (Super PAC)

Minority Empowerment PAC (Super PAC)

Reveal Reality (Super PAC)

WEST MICHIGAN PAC (Leadership PAC: Paul Hudson)

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New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Dana O'Brien: Bigelow Laboratory For Ocean Sciences

Demand Progress Action, Inc: Demand Progress Action, Inc

Marshall & Popp, LLC: American Federation Of American Hospitals

Miller & Chevalier Chartered: Standard Industries

Nexxus Consulting, LLC: Arizona Department Of Transportation

Nexxus Consulting, LLC: Town Of Sahuarita

Nexxus Consulting, LLC: Tri-City Regional Sanitary District

Platinum Advisors Dc, LLC: Astranis Space Technologies Corp.

Platinum Advisors Dc, LLC: National Association Of Voice Actors

The Angle: Koi Nation Of Northern California

The Joseph Group, LLC: Y Combinator

Van Scoyoc Associates: Lmi Consulting, LLC

New Lobbying Terminations

The Peterson Group Inc: Cattlemen'S Heritage Beef Company

Upstream Consulting, Inc.: Natural Products Association

A message from Electronic Payments Coalition:

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