Michigan residents have fielded an estimated 964.2 million spam calls so far in 2026, and now two state lawmakers want to make certain of those calls — the ones generated by artificial intelligence — a costly state crime. House Bills 6393 and 6394, introduced this month, would fine violators $500 per call and route complaints through the Attorney General's office.
The figure on spam calls comes from YouMail data cited by WWMT, which reported that the volume works out to just under 100 calls for every person in the state. Rep. Joseph Aragona, a Republican from Clinton Township who chairs the House Committee on Regulatory Reform, told the station he personally gets a few spam calls a day. He said constituents complain to their state representatives regularly about the nuisance.
Aragona is pushing the bills alongside Rep. Rylee Linting, a Republican from Wyandotte. Linting told the station AI-generated calls can be “bothersome, misleading or predatory” and can take advantage of vulnerable residents, since the technology now allows calls to convincingly mimic a real human voice. Federal law already bars AI-generated calls unless the recipient has opted in, but Aragona argues Michigan needs its own enforcement layer on top of that.
How the Complaint Process Would Work
Under the bills, the Attorney General's office would field complaints about AI robocalls and compile them into an annual report to state lawmakers, according to the station's report. Aragona believes the $500-per-call fine will be enough to deter violators, though he told the outlet he's open to a tougher penalty if lawmakers push for one.
Bill tracking site fastdemocracy.com shows House Bill 6393 is formally tied to House Bill 6394 and was electronically reproduced on Thursday. The bill was referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform, and as of the tracking page's most recent update, no voting records were yet available.
Enforcement Gets Harder Across Borders
One acknowledged limitation: many AI robocallers operate from outside the United States, which the same report notes would make them harder for the Attorney General to pursue. The office would have stronger enforcement tools against callers with a nexus to the U.S. or Michigan specifically, per the outlet's account.
Aragona and Linting have already spoken with industries that rely on robocalls as they crafted the legislation, the station reported, and the bills are expected to draw bipartisan support. Aragona has said AI carries plenty of beneficial uses but that AI-driven robocalls specifically cause harm. He's hoping the bills pass within the remaining months of the current legislative session, though he said he'd keep working on the issue next session if they stall.
A National Pattern Around AI and Phone Fraud
Michigan's push follows a broader national reckoning over AI-generated political calls. In New Hampshire, political consultant Steven Kramer faced a proposed $6 million FCC fine tied to an AI-generated robocall mimicking President Joe Biden's voice, a message sent to thousands of voters days before the state's Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primary, according to wcax.com. Telecom carrier Lingo Telecom faced a separate proposed $2 million fine in the same matter, and the FCC said at the time it was the agency's first case involving generative AI technology.
WCAX reported 13 felony charges and 13 misdemeanor charges tied to New Hampshire laws on voter deterrence and impersonating a candidate, while the Boston Globe covered Kramer's trial. The Globe also noted that many states have since enacted legislation regulating AI deepfakes in political campaigns.
Michigan already requires disclosure of AI use in election advertisements, according to Mashable's rundown of state rules. Minnesota bars deepfakes intended to influence an election outright, while Washington requires disclosure of synthetic media used for that purpose, the outlet reported. House Bills 6393 and 6394 would extend that regulatory instinct beyond campaign ads and into the phone lines Michigan residents pick up every day.
