Nithya Raman’s campaign team has filed a complaint against Thrive LA, a social welfare organization that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars opposing Raman in both the current mayoral race and her previous City Council reelection campaign.
Signs recently began appearing around Los Angeles advertising “Nithya Raman Realty,” a dig at the mayoral candidate and her handling of the city’s homelessness crisis. The signs included a phone number that connected callers to an interactive phone line.
According to the complaint, Thrive LA created an AI-generated phone line featuring a voice that imitates Raman’s. The complaint alleges that the phone line does not include a spoken disclaimer identifying who paid for the ad and that the AI voice would not answer when callers asked.
Los Angeles called the phone line after the complaint was filed. When prompted, the AI voice identified Thrive LA as the group that paid for the ad, provided the organization’s address and identified Jason Larian of Thrive LA as a source of funding. The voice also stated that more than $500,000 had been used to fund the line and acknowledged the use of AI.
“We are bringing tent communities to your block,” the phone line says when answering. “Would you prefer them outside your children’s schools, the library or right outside your home?”
Raman’s complaint also alleges that Thrive LA spray-painted stencils reading “POOP ZONES, COURTESY NITHYA RAMAN,” which allegedly lacked required disclosures. Other signs from Thrive LA, the complaint said, falsely stated that ads featuring Raman’s face were “paid for by LA tax payers.”
“Angelenos deserve to hear from the real candidates, not an undisclosed AI impersonation funded by a Super PAC,” said Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for the Raman campaign. “The real Nithya reduced street homelessness in her district by 49% in one year and has a plan to bring down housing costs.”
Raman’s campaign alleges that the phone line violates a state law prohibiting the knowing and malicious distribution of digitally fabricated audio that portrays a candidate as saying something they did not say within 30 days of an election in which they are running.
The complaint comes just eight days before Election Day in the closely contested mayoral race, though many Angelenos have already voted by mail or through early voting. It urges the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission to review the complaint before the Nov. 3 election.
In response to Los Angeles’ reporting of the complaint on X, Thrive LA disputed the complaint, claiming it had included proper disclosures and pointing to the complaint’s identification of the organization as evidence.
“The real question is why a sitting councilmember running for mayor is so threatened by satire and scrutiny of her record,” Thrive LA wrote.
https://twitter.com/LAmag/status/2114864214971932942?s=20
This is not the first time a mayoral candidate has been accused of failing to include required paid-ad disclosures. Last month, Mayor Karen Bass assisted two social media influencers in lawsuits against Raman’s campaign team.
The complaint, obtained by Los Angeles, alleges that Raman repeatedly paid content creators to promote her without disclosing that the videos were sponsored by her campaign. The videos in question include disclaimers in their captions stating that Raman’s campaign paid for the ads, but no disclosures appear within the videos themselves.
According to California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, including “Paid for by…” only in a caption would not satisfy video-ad disclosure requirements. The disclaimer must be displayed visually within the video.
Thrive LA has also supported Bass’ campaign. The group describes itself as a nonpartisan civic movement focused on public safety, housing affordability and government accountability, while Raman’s team describes it as a “conservative Super PAC.”
A spokesperson for Raman’s campaign called it both “sad and illegal” for Bass’ team to use Raman’s voice to manufacture statements in an alleged effort to deceive voters.
“These are desperate tactics from corporate interests determined to keep their grip on City Hall,” Garcia said. “They can’t defend a broken status quo that has left Angelenos paying more and getting less, so they’re inventing a candidate to attack.”
A spokesperson for Bass’ campaign said the mayor had no involvement in the Thrive LA ads, noting that campaigns are legally prohibited from coordinating with independent expenditures.
The post Nithya Raman Campaign Accuses Bass-Backed Group of AI Impersonation appeared first on LAmag.
