> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thedelatorrereview.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # California’s AI Voice Disclosure Rule: When Robocalls Must Tell You the Voice Is Artificial - URL: https://www.thedelatorrereview.com/californias-ai-voice-disclosure-rule-when-robocalls-must-tell-you-the-voice-is-artificial/ - Published: 2026-08-27T05:19:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-27T05:19:24.000Z - Description: California now requires disclosure when certain automated calls use AI-generated or significantly AI-altered voices. AB 2905 adds the rule to existing robocall law, requiring an upfront natural-voice announcement before the prerecorded message plays. - Author: Lydia - Tags: California, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automated Calls, Transparency **Effective date:** January 1, 2025. **Authority:** [Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2874](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=2874.&lawCode=PUC&ref=thedelatorrereview.com), enacted through [AB 2905](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202320240AB2905&ref=thedelatorrereview.com). Artificial intelligence can now imitate a human voice remarkably well. California’s response is straightforward: --- > **Tell the person receiving the call that the voice is artificial.** --- California Assembly Bill 2905 ([AB 2905](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202320240AB2905&ref=thedelatorrereview.com)) amended the [state’s existing rules governing automatic dialing-announcing devices](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplayText.xhtml?division=1.&chapter=10.&part=2.&lawCode=PUC&article=1.&ref=thedelatorrereview.com) to require an additional disclosure when a prerecorded telephone message uses an ***“artificial voice.”*** The law does not prohibit AI-generated voices. It does not require every AI voice used in every telephone call to identify itself. And it does not create an entirely new regulatory regime for AI communications. > **Practice Tip:** If a call is placed using an **automatic dialing-announcing device**, the device may operate **only after the caller makes an unrecorded, natural-voice announcement**. If the prerecorded message uses an artificial voice, that announcement must disclose this **before the prerecorded message plays**. ## What Does AB 2905 Do? AB 2905 amended Section 2874 of the California Public Utilities Code, which regulates calls made using an **automatic dialing-announcing device**. California law already required a particular sequence before such a device could play its prerecorded message. The device may be operated only **after an unrecorded, natural-voice announcement has been made by the person calling**. That introductory announcement must: 1. state the nature of the call; 2. provide the name, address, and telephone number of the business or organization being represented, if any; and 3. ask whether the person receiving the call consents to hear the prerecorded message. AB 2905 added one more requirement: > The announcement must inform the person called if the prerecorded message uses an artificial voice. An **“artificial voice”** is: > “a voice that is generated or significantly altered using artificial intelligence.” That definition covers more than an entirely computer-generated speaker. A real person's voice falls within the definition if AI has **significantly altered** it. That potentially captures technologies such as AI voice cloning and other systems that transform recorded human speech, depending on the degree of alteration. T The structure is quite specific: **Human introduction → disclosure → consent → prerecorded message.** If the prerecorded portion uses an artificial voice, the disclosure must say so before the person agrees to hear it. --- > California inserted an AI-specific transparency requirement into a much older telecommunications rule governing automated calls. --- ### How Does California Define “Artificial Intelligence”? AB 2905 defines artificial intelligence using the **same technology-neutral definition discussed in our earlier article**. Under the law, AI is an “engineered or machine-based system” that can, with varying levels of autonomy and for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from its inputs how to generate outputs capable of influencing physical or virtual environments. See, [***California Defines AI: AB 2885 and Its Impact***](https://www.thedelatorrereview.com/california-defines-ai-ab-2885-and-its-impact/) As discussed in that article, the definition focuses on **systems, autonomy, inference, inputs, and outputs**, rather than on a particular technology such as machine learning, large language models, or generative AI. ### What Calls Are Covered? AB 2905 does **not** apply to every call involving an AI-generated voice. It applies to calls made using an **automatic dialing-announcing device** where the prerecorded message uses a voice generated or significantly altered by AI. **An “automatic dialing-announcing device” is essentially equipment that automatically dials stored, random, or sequentially generated telephone numbers and can deliver a prerecorded message, either by itself or in combination with other equipment. (**[**Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2871**](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PUC§ionNum=2871.&ref=thedelatorrereview.com)**.)** --- > The scope of AB 2905 is narrower than simply **“automated calls using AI voices.”** . --- ## **Penalties** A violation of the automatic dialing-announcing device requirements—including the new artificial-voice disclosure requirement—is a civil offense. The CPUC may impose a fine of up to **$500 per violation**, disconnect telephone service to the device for a specified period, or both. ([Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2876](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PUC§ionNum=2876.&ref=thedelatorrereview.com).) ## Conclusion AB 2905 is a short amendment with a simple requirement: when a regulated automated call uses a prerecorded artificial voice, the caller must disclose that fact before the message plays. But the law also illustrates a broader trend in AI regulation. There is no universal answer to **“When do we have to disclose that we are using AI?”** Increasingly, the answer depends on where and how AI is used and the existing laws governing that interaction. Rather than creating entirely new AI regimes, lawmakers can add AI-specific requirements to established legal frameworks—as California has done here with telecommunications law. The better compliance question may therefore be: **Where are we using AI, and what laws already govern what we are doing there?** --- > **AI can do the talking. California just wants it introduced properly.** --- ## Additional Resources ### Legal Citations - **California Assembly Bill 2905 (2023–2024), Chapter 316** — *Telecommunications: automatic dialing-announcing devices: artificial voices.* Approved September 20, 2024; effective January 1, 2025\. [Read the Bill](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202320240AB2905&ref=thedelatorrereview.com) - **Cal. Pub. Util. Code §§ 2871–2876 (Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices).** California’s Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices law regulates automated telephone systems that deliver prerecorded messages. It establishes rules for when these calls may be made, consent and natural-voice announcement requirements, exemptions, and penalties. AB 2905 updated the law to require callers to disclose when a prerecorded message uses an **A**I-generated or significantly AI-altered voice. [Read the full Statute](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplayText.xhtml?division=1.&chapter=10.&part=2.&lawCode=PUC&article=1.&ref=thedelatorrereview.com) - [**Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2871** ](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PUC§ionNum=2871.&ref=thedelatorrereview.com)— Definition of “automatic dialing-announcing device.” - [**Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2874** ](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PUC§ionNum=2874.&ref=thedelatorrereview.com)— Natural-voice announcement and consent requirements; artificial-voice disclosure requirement; definitions of “artificial intelligence” and “artificial voice.” - [**Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2876** ](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PUC§ionNum=2876.&ref=thedelatorrereview.com)— Civil enforcement, including fines of up to $500 per violation and potential disconnection of telephone service to the device. ### Related Articles from *The de la Torre Review* - **California Defines AI: AB 2885 and Its Impact** — Explains California's technology-neutral definition of artificial intelligence, including its focus on systems, autonomy, objectives, inference, inputs, and outputs, and why a common definition does not necessarily mean a universal definition across California law. [Read the article](https://www.thedelatorrereview.com/california-defines-ai-ab-2885-and-its-impact/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ef/54efeb65-4f2f-479e-b4bb-a9ee526feeaa/content/images/2026/08/ChatGPT-Image-Jul-4--2026-at-04_44_14-PM-3.png)