Are AI phone calls legal? Consent, disclosure and recording rules

Are AI phone calls legal?

Yes, in the US and in most other places, as long as each call follows the rules for its type. There is no general ban on AI voice agents. What the law regulates is how calls are placed and recorded: who gave consent, what the person is told, and whether the conversation is recorded or transcribed.

The answer for your business depends on three questions: who started the call (inbound or outbound), what it is for (marketing needs stricter consent than a reminder or a delivery update), and whether it is recorded or transcribed, which most AI phone agents do.

What did the FCC decide about AI voices in 2024?

The FCC decided that AI-generated voices are "artificial" voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In a Declaratory Ruling adopted on February 2, 2024 and released on February 8, 2024 (FCC 24-17), the Commission confirmed that the TCPA's restrictions on "artificial or prerecorded voice" calls "encompass current AI technologies that resemble human voices and/or generate call content using a prerecorded voice." The ruling took effect on release.

Four consequences follow from the ruling and the rules it points to:

• Consent. Callers "must obtain prior express consent from the called party" before placing a call that uses an AI-generated voice, unless the call is for an emergency purpose or covered by an exemption.
• Written consent for marketing. If the call includes an advertisement or is telemarketing, the FCC's rules require prior express written consent (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2) and (a)(3)).
• Identification and opt-out. Every artificial or prerecorded voice message must name the business responsible at the start and give a phone number for it. Marketing messages must also offer an automated opt-out.
• No live-agent loophole. The FCC said the TCPA "does not allow for any carve out of technologies that purport to provide the equivalent of a live agent." A conversational AI voice agent that responds in real time is still an artificial voice.

Jessica Rosenworcel, who chaired the FCC at the time, noted in her statement on the ruling that State Attorneys General can pursue violators and seek damages. Private lawsuits are the larger exposure for most businesses: the TCPA lets people sue for $500 per violation, and a court can increase that to three times the amount for willful or knowing violations (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3)).

Has the FCC adopted AI disclosure rules since then?

No. As of October 2026, the FCC has proposed AI-specific disclosure rules but has not adopted them. A search of the Federal Register for the docket (CG Docket No. 23-362) returns the 2024 proposed rule and no final rule. Here is what is in force and what is not.

The proposed disclosure rules would largely formalize what careful businesses already do, so build disclosure in now.

The legal weight of FCC interpretations also changed in 2025, for every business, not just one sector. In McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Corp. (June 20, 2025), the Supreme Court held that district courts in enforcement proceedings are not bound by an agency's interpretation of a statute. They "must independently determine the law's meaning" while "affording appropriate respect to the agency's interpretation." That applies to any retailer, brokerage or home services company sued under the TCPA. In principle, a court could read "artificial voice" differently from the FCC. In practice, the FCC's ruling cites a 2023 Ninth Circuit decision that already described an artificial voice as including "a sound resembling a human voice that is originated by artificial intelligence." The safe assumption is that AI voices are covered.

Can you legally use AI to answer inbound calls?

Generally yes. The TCPA's consent rules apply to calls a business places. The FCC's ruling says its requirements apply to "any AI technology that initiates any outbound telephone call." When a customer calls your property management office, accounting firm, dental clinic or online store and an AI receptionist answers, you did not place the call, so TCPA consent is not the issue.

Three sets of rules still apply to inbound AI answering: recording and transcription laws (covered below), AI disclosure rules in some places, and the consent rules for anything the AI does next. If it promises a callback and an AI voice places it, that is an outbound call. Follow-up texts carry their own rules too.

This is why inbound answering is usually the lowest-risk place to start with AI on the phone, for example after-hours answering or a front desk that books appointments.

When does an outbound AI call need written consent?

Every outbound call that uses an AI voice needs the called person's prior express consent. If the call includes an advertisement or is telemarketing, that consent must be written. Most sales calls fall into the second group, and a callback that promotes your services to someone who filled in a web form is likely to as well.

Under the FCC's rules (47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9)), prior express written consent is a written agreement, signed by the person, that clearly authorizes the seller to deliver advertisements or telemarketing using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice, and names the phone number those calls may go to. It must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure that:

• by signing, the person authorizes the seller to make those calls, and
• the person is not required to sign, directly or indirectly, as a condition of buying anything.

An electronic signature counts where federal or state law recognizes it. In practice: a form with its own unchecked box, specific wording and a stored record of who agreed, when, where and to which number.

Marketing calls carry three more obligations under the same rules:

• Do Not Call. Telephone solicitations to residential numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry are restricted, and you must honor a do-not-call request within 10 business days (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(2) and (d)(3)).
• Revocation. People can revoke consent by any reasonable method, such as saying "stop calling me" to the AI, and you must honor it within 10 business days (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)).
• Identification. The message must name your business at the start and state a phone number where the person can make a do-not-call request during business hours (47 CFR 64.1200(b)).

Do you have to tell callers they are talking to an AI?

For outbound AI-voice calls in the US, you already have to identify your business at the start. A federal duty to say "this is an AI" is only proposed. Some states and the EU already have disclosure rules, though, and disclosure is the safer default everywhere.

• Utah. The Artificial Intelligence Policy Act, as amended by SB 226 (effective May 7, 2025), requires a business that uses generative AI to interact with a consumer to disclose it when the person asks with a "clear and unambiguous request." People in state-licensed occupations must disclose up front when the interaction is "high risk", meaning it collects sensitive information such as health or financial data and gives personalized information for significant decisions, according to the Future of Privacy Forum's summary. The law also gives a safe harbor to AI that discloses clearly at the outset.
• The EU. From August 2, 2026, AI systems that interact directly with people must tell them so (see the EU section below).
• Everywhere else. A caller who later feels deceived is more likely to complain or sue. One sentence at the start costs nothing.

A good opening line does both jobs at once: "Thanks for calling [Business]. I'm an AI assistant, and this call is recorded so we can help you. How can I help?" Pair it with a clear route to a person; our human handoff definition covers what that should include.

Can an AI phone agent record calls, and which states require everyone's consent?

Yes, if you get the consent the law requires where you and the caller are. Federal law is a one-party rule: 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d) allows a person who is a party to a call, or who has one party's prior consent, to record it, unless the purpose is criminal or tortious. Many states are stricter, and federal law does not override them.

According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, about 11 states primarily require the consent of all parties: California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (at least for recordings by someone not taking part in the conversation), Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Connecticut and Nevada also require all-party consent for phone calls, while Missouri and Oregon require it only for in-person conversations.

The statutes show what "all-party" means in practice:

• California (Penal Code 632) prohibits recording a confidential communication "without the consent of all parties", with fines of up to $2,500 per violation.
• Florida (Statutes 934.03(2)(d)) makes interception lawful when "all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent."
• Washington (RCW 9.73.030) requires the consent of all participants, but treats consent as obtained when one party announces "in any reasonably effective manner" that the call is about to be recorded, and that announcement is itself recorded.

When callers and businesses are in different states, courts disagree on which state's law applies. The Reporters Committee's advice is to assume the stricter law applies. For a business that takes calls from anywhere, that means a recording notice at the start of every call; our call recording consent entry covers the basics.

Your AI vendor matters too. In February 2025, a federal court in California let a class action proceed against Google, whose Contact Center AI callers alleged had transcribed their customer service calls to other businesses without consent. According to law firm Goodwin, the court found it enough at that early stage that the vendor could use call data for its own purposes. It was not a final judgment, but it is a reason to read your vendor's data-use terms.

Which rules apply to which kind of AI call?

This table maps common call types to the US federal rules above and the recording rules in all-party states. Use it as a starting map for your lawyer, not a final answer.

What are the rules in the EU and the UK?

European Union. Article 50(1) of the EU AI Act requires providers to design AI systems that interact directly with people so that those people are informed they are interacting with an AI, unless that is obvious to a reasonably well-informed person. Article 50(5) says the information must be given "at the latest at the time of the first interaction or exposure," in a "clear and distinguishable manner." Article 50 applies from August 2, 2026. A provisional Digital Omnibus agreement in May 2026 postponed only the watermarking duty in Article 50(2), to December 2, 2026; law firm Hogan Lovells reported that all other transparency obligations, including those for deployers, continue to apply from August 2, 2026. An AI receptionist answering calls from people in the EU should say it is an AI in its first sentence.

United Kingdom. Marketing calls are governed by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office. The ICO's guidance says you must not make an automated marketing call unless the person has "specifically consented to receive this type of call from you", and that live marketing calls must not go to numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service without specific consent. The guidance does not say whether an AI voice agent counts as an automated call, so the cautious approach is to treat it as one. The ICO notes that this guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act.

What should your AI calling compliance checklist include?

Work through this list with your lawyer before launch, and again whenever you add a new call type, a new market or a new vendor.

If you want inbound answering built with disclosure, recording notices and human handoff designed in from day one, see how Concierge works, and how it turns a new inquiry into an instant lead response.