The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the NO FAKES Act by voice vote on Thursday.
Introduced by Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), it would create new protections against AI-enabled replicas and deepfakes and allow people to sue over the unauthorized use of their likeness. The bill could be included in a package of AI and kids’ safety bills that Blackburn is currently working on with the White House.
The latest version of the bill has earned broad support from Hollywood and the tech industry, receiving endorsements from YouTube, TikTok and OpenAI as well as Disney and the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA. 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,” the Tennessee Republican said at the markup.
Other bills that could be included in Blackburn’s package are the Kids Online Safety Act and the App Store Accountability Act. Such a package could ultimately block some state laws on AI — though it’s not yet clear how aggressively the measure would preempt state action on narrow issues such as verifying users’ ages on social media.
“I’ve always said America needs one set of rules for AI, and NO FAKES is a critical component of that rulebook,” Blackburn added.
Both the NO FAKES Act and KOSA have come under fire over a number of First Amendment concerns. A coalition of free speech groups including the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent a letter to Judiciary Committee leadership on Tuesday 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 their issues with the bill’s effects on free speech and looked to address those concerns with the co-sponsors.
As an example, Cruz pointed to former reality television star Spencer Pratt, who ran a series of AI-generated videos — often without a statement disclosing the content was created using AI — during his failed Los Angeles mayoral campaign, including portrayals of himself as Batman and Luke Skywalker. The political deepfakes raised concerns that some of the ads risked misleading voters during campaign season.
“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.
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