The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to advance bipartisan legislation aimed at curbing the spread of unauthorized AI-generated replicas of individuals, marking one of the most significant congressional efforts to address the growing legal and policy challenges posed by generative artificial intelligence.
The bill, known as the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, would create a federal intellectual property right covering a person’s voice and visual likeness. It would allow individuals to seek removal of unauthorized AI-generated replicas and impose liability on those who distribute such content or provide services primarily designed to create it.
Sponsored by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) with bipartisan support from lawmakers including Sens. Marsha Blackburn, (R-TN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) the legislation reflects growing concern among lawmakers, creators and technology companies about the ability of generative AI systems to produce highly realistic digital replicas of individuals without their consent.
“This bill is about protecting what’s most personal to us, what makes us us: our voice and our likeness,” Coons said during the committee’s consideration of the measure, as reported by Roll Call. He argued that advances in generative AI now make it possible to create convincing digital replicas that falsely depict individuals saying or doing things they never said or did.
The legislation would require online platforms to remove unauthorized deepfake content and could impose penalties on platforms that fail to make a good-faith effort to comply. According to the bill’s framework, online services could face penalties of up to $750,000 per unauthorized work. The measure also would establish procedures allowing users to challenge mistaken removals through a counter-notification process.
The proposal draws heavily from Tennessee’s 2024 ELVIS Act, which established protections for voice and likeness rights and became one of the first state laws specifically designed to address AI-generated impersonations. Like the Tennessee law, the federal bill includes provisions intended to protect not only individuals but also rights holders such as music labels that have contractual interests in artists’ performances and likenesses.
The committee adopted an amendment before approving the bill that narrows liability where an AI-generated work bears only a coincidental resemblance to a non-famous individual and establishes procedures governing rights associated with recently deceased individuals.
The measure arrives amid a broader congressional debate over AI governance. Blackburn, who has championed both the NO FAKES Act and the Kids Online Safety Act, described the deepfake legislation as an important component of a broader national AI rulebook. Her office has also indicated that negotiations are underway regarding a larger package that could combine AI-related protections with limited federal preemption of certain state laws.
Despite broad support, the bill faces continued scrutiny over its potential interaction with the First Amendment. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) warned that lawmakers must ensure efforts to protect creators do not undermine longstanding free speech principles. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) similarly acknowledged that revisions had substantially improved the legislation but argued additional work may be needed to ensure obligations imposed on platforms, streaming services, video game developers and other stakeholders are appropriately tailored.
The First Amendment debate is likely to intensify as the bill advances, per Roll Call. Critics argue that substantial liability exposure could encourage platforms to remove lawful content rather than risk penalties, potentially leading to over-moderation. NetChoice, a technology industry trade group, warned that the bill creates financial incentives for platforms to over-remove content and could burden users seeking to restore lawful speech.
Some major technology platforms, including TikTok and YouTube, have expressed support for the bill, however, while the entertainment industry has rallied behind it. SAG-AFTRA recently organized an open letter supporting the legislation that attracted more than 16,000 signatures.
As Congress continues to wrestle with the legal implications of generative AI, the NO FAKES Act illustrates the balancing act lawmakers face: protecting individuals and creators from increasingly sophisticated digital impersonation while preserving constitutional protections for speech and expression.
