Do you need consent for AI voice calls?

What prior express written consent (PEWC) means

PEWC is a signed, written agreement from the called party to receive marketing calls using an automated system or artificial/prerecorded voice (47 CFR §64.1200(f)(9)). To count, it has to clearly disclose what the person is agreeing to, identify the seller making the calls and the phone number that will be called, and state that agreeing is not a condition of buying anything. It cannot be hidden in unrelated fine print or a pre-checked box, and an electronic signature on a web form counts. A purchased lead list is not consent.

The FCC's 2024 ruling on AI voices still governs in practice, but since the Supreme Court's decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson (June 2025), courts read the TCPA for themselves instead of deferring to FCC interpretations. Most analysts expect AI-generated voices to stay covered, because the statute's own words, "artificial or prerecorded voice", fit them.

Marketing vs informational calls

The consent bar depends on the call's purpose. Marketing and telemarketing AI calls need PEWC. Purely informational or transactional calls — an appointment reminder the customer asked for, an order update — have a lower bar. Because the line can blur, the safe rule is to obtain documented consent and honor opt-outs on every call, marketing or not.

Consent should be specific to your business

In 2023 the FCC adopted a "one-to-one" rule that would have required lead-generator consent to name a single seller. The Eleventh Circuit vacated it in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC (January 2025), and the FCC formally removed it in August 2025, so there is no federal one-seller rule today. Seller-specific consent is still the defensible posture: the consent has to cover the seller that actually calls, courts look hard at blanket agreements to be contacted by unnamed "partners", and several state laws require written consent of their own. When in doubt, consult counsel on the rules for your program.

This is a fast-moving area of law. Treat consent as seller-specific and keep proof — don't rely on a generic marketing opt-in.

Do you have to disclose that the caller is an AI?

Federally, not yet as an AI-specific rule. Every artificial or prerecorded-voice call must identify the business at the start and give a callback number, and telemarketing calls must offer an automated opt-out. The FCC proposed AI-call disclosure rules in August 2024, but as of September 2026 they are not final.

Some states already require it. California (AB 2905, in force since January 1, 2025) requires prerecorded calls that use an AI-generated voice to say so. Maine (10 M.R.S. §1500-DD, since September 2025) requires a clear notice whenever an AI could mislead a consumer into thinking they are talking to a person. Disclosing on every AI call is the simplest way to satisfy all of them.

How to capture consent that holds up

• Use clear opt-in language that names your business, says calls may use an automated or AI voice, and says agreeing is not a condition of purchase.
• Don't pre-check the box or bury it in unrelated terms.
• Timestamp and store the consent record — the exact language, the source, the phone number, and when it was given.
• Honor opt-outs made in any reasonable way (a reply of STOP, a request on a call) — the FCC rule in force since April 2025 gives you at most 10 business days, so stop immediately in practice — and scrub against the National DNC Registry. As of October 9, 2026, the FCC's separate "revoke-all" rule, which would make one opt-out cover all your unrelated calls and texts, is waived until January 31, 2027. A newer FCC order (FCC 26-67, released October 1, 2026) replaces that date once it takes effect, 30 days after Federal Register publication: a STOP to a marketing call or text will then cover all of that caller's marketing calls and texts.

How Lead Friendly helps

Lead Friendly enforces the call-time controls so consent isn't the only thing standing between you and a violation: the artificial-voice disclosure is auto-injected on the first turn of every AI call, each contact's do-not-call status and any STOP reply to your texts are checked before every dial, TCPA quiet hours are enforced from the called party's timezone, and every gate decision is written to a tamper-evident audit log. Capturing and storing PEWC for your uploaded lists remains your responsibility under the platform's DNC attestation.