AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials

The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials

A member of the media interviews Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, with a smartphone following a discussion at the Uber Technologies Inc. office in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 24, 2014. Rubio addressed the need to adapt antiquated government regulations to increase economic opportunities for the 21st century and outdated regulations limit consumer choice.
This underscores the scale of the threat posed by 'bad actors harnessing quickly evolving voice-cloning technology'
(Image credit: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What happened

An imposter used artificial intelligence to mimic Secretary of State Marco Rubio in voice and text messages to high-ranking officials including three foreign ministers, a governor and a member of Congress, according to a State Department cable obtained by The Washington Post.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.