AI voice agent consent rules: can an AI agent make sales calls?

In the US, an AI voice agent can make a sales call to a mobile or home phone only if the person gave prior express written consent first. Since its February 2024 ruling (FCC 24-17), the FCC treats an AI-generated voice as “artificial” under the TCPA, so the AI voice agent consent rules are the rules for prerecorded calls. Reps make cold calls; AI agents call people who agreed to it.

What the FCC ruled in February 2024

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) limits calls made with an “artificial or prerecorded voice”. In Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17, adopted on 2 Feb 2024 and effective on its release on 8 Feb 2024, the FCC confirmed that these limits cover current AI technologies that resemble human voices or generate call content using a prerecorded voice. Voice cloning is included.

Three points in the ruling matter for sales teams:

• Consent comes first. A caller must have the called party’s prior express consent before placing a call with an AI-generated voice, unless the call is for an emergency or an exemption applies. If the call includes an advertisement or is telemarketing, the FCC’s rules require prior express written consent.
• A person in the loop does not change this. A live agent choosing which prerecorded messages to play does not take a call outside the rule, and the FCC applied that reasoning to AI voices.
• The disclosure and opt-out rules apply too, to any AI technology that starts an outbound call to consumers.

Which consent each AI call needs

The detailed rules are in 47 CFR 64.1200, checked as of October 2026. Paragraph (a)(1) covers calls to numbers assigned to a cellular service, and paragraph (a)(3) covers residential lines. The mobile rule makes no exception for work phones, so a B2B list of mobile numbers is covered.

The AI call	Example	US consent needed
Cold sales call	An agent works a list of people who never asked to hear from you	Prior express written consent, which a cold list does not have. Reps make these calls.
Sales follow-up the person asked for	A webinar sign-up asks for a call about pricing	Prior express written consent, collected on the form
Informational call to a mobile	Confirming the time of a meeting the person booked	Prior express consent. If the call also includes an advertisement, it needs written consent.
Inbound call	The person calls your number and an agent answers	FCC 24-17 addresses outbound calls (see the next section)

Prior express written consent has a precise meaning in paragraph (f)(9). It is a written agreement, signed by the person, that:

1. clearly authorizes the seller to deliver advertisements or telemarketing calls using an artificial or prerecorded voice (or an autodialer);
2. gives the phone number those calls may go to;
3. tells the person, clearly and conspicuously, that signing authorizes those calls and is not a condition of buying anything.

An electronic signature counts where federal or state law recognizes it. Consent for a rep to call does not automatically cover an AI voice: check that the agreement authorizes calls made with an artificial or prerecorded voice. For leads from a third party, check that the agreement names your company as the seller.

Inbound calls and callbacks are not cold calls

The FCC’s ruling is about calls a business starts. It says its requirements apply to any AI technology that “initiates any outbound telephone call” with an artificial or prerecorded voice.

• Inbound. When a person calls your number and an AI agent answers, the person started the call, so the outbound consent rule is not the question. Call recording consent and, in the EU, AI disclosure can still apply; ask your counsel.
• Callbacks the person asked for. A callback is an outbound call. When someone fills in a form asking you to call them, collect prior express written consent that covers an artificial voice on that form. The agent can then call back within minutes, with consent on file.
• Returned missed calls. A person who called your rep and missed them has not signed a written agreement by calling. An AI sales callback still needs prior express written consent, so let a rep return the call.
• Cold outbound. A live rep’s call is not an artificial-voice call, although autodialer, do-not-call and calling-hours rules can still apply. A parallel dialer gives reps more conversations without putting an AI voice on a cold list.

What an AI call must say, and how people opt out

Under paragraph (b) of the rule, every artificial or prerecorded voice message must:

• Name the caller at the start. State clearly who is responsible for the call. A business must use the name it is registered under.
• Give a phone number during or after the message.
• Offer an automated opt-out on sales calls. For telemarketing to mobile numbers and residential lines, the call must offer a voice- or key press-activated opt-out within 2 seconds of the identification. When the person opts out, their number goes on your do-not-call list and the call ends at once. A voicemail must give a toll-free number that reaches the same opt-out.

People can also revoke consent in any reasonable way, for example through the opt-out on a call or through a website or phone number you set up for opt-outs. Under paragraph (a)(10), you must honor the request within a reasonable time of no more than 10 business days, and you cannot make one method the only way to opt out. That is changing: under FCC 26-67, adopted on 30 Sep 2026, callers will be able to make the automated opt-out on a call, a standard text reply word, or an opt-out website or phone number the only way to revoke, if they disclose it clearly. It takes effect 30 days after Federal Register publication, which had not happened as of 15 Oct 2026.

Saying it is an AI. As of October 2026, US federal rules do not require an AI-voice call to say that it uses AI; the FCC noted this in its August 2024 proposal (FCC 24-84). That proposal would define an “AI-generated call”, require callers to disclose AI use, and require consent forms to say AI will be used. No final rule from it had been published in the Federal Register as of October 2026. Saying “I’m an AI assistant calling for [company]” takes one sentence and misleads no one.

Where the rules stand as of October 2026

Rule	Status as of October 2026
The FCC treats AI voices as an “artificial or prerecorded voice” (FCC 24-17)	In effect since 8 Feb 2024
One-to-one consent: one seller at a time, on related topics only	Vacated by the 11th Circuit on 24 Jan 2025, before it took effect
Earlier definition of prior express written consent	Restored by the FCC, effective 29 Aug 2025 (DA 25-621)
Defining “AI-generated call” and requiring AI disclosure (FCC 24-84)	Proposed in Aug 2024; no final rule published
Callers naming one opt-out method as the only way to revoke consent (FCC 26-67)	Adopted 30 Sep 2026; takes effect 30 days after Federal Register publication
How courts weigh FCC readings of the TCPA (McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson)	Since 20 Jun 2025, district courts decide what the TCPA means themselves, giving the FCC’s reading “appropriate respect” without being bound by it
EU AI Act, Article 50(1): tell people they are talking with an AI	Applies from 2 Aug 2026

The one-to-one rule, from a 2023 FCC order, would have let a person consent to telemarketing calls from only one seller at a time, on subjects “logically and topically” linked to the interaction. In Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, the court held that these limits conflicted with the ordinary meaning of “prior express consent” in the statute. The FCC’s final rule put back the earlier definition, which still requires consent that authorizes the seller.

Outside the US

• United Kingdom. The ICO’s guidance says you must not make an automated marketing call unless the person specifically consented to that type of call. General marketing consent, or consent to live calls, is not enough. The ICO describes an automated call as an automated dialing system playing a recorded message; the guidance does not mention AI voices and, the ICO says, is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act. Ask your counsel whether your agent’s calls count as automated; specific consent to AI calls covers both readings.
• European Union. Article 50(1) of the AI Act requires providers of AI systems that interact directly with people to design them so people are told they are dealing with an AI, unless that is obvious. Under Article 113, it applies from 2 Aug 2026.

Before an AI agent dials: a checklist

1. Decide what the call is: sales or informational, outbound or inbound.
2. Check the consent record. For sales calls to US mobile and home numbers, keep the signed agreement, its date, its source and its exact wording.
3. Name AI in the consent wording, next to “artificial or prerecorded voice”. This matches the FCC’s 2024 proposal and the ICO’s call for specific consent.
4. Script the first 10 seconds: the registered business name, that the caller is an AI, and, on sales calls, the opt-out within 2 seconds of the identification. Give a phone number for call-backs.
5. Make opt-outs work end to end. The agent should act on “stop calling me”, add the number to your do-not-call list and end the call. Honor other opt-outs within 10 business days at most.
6. Keep cold lists with reps. Send anyone without consent on file to a rep, not to the agent.
7. Review with counsel: business landlines, state laws and each country you call (country coverage).

How DialSavvy handles this

DialSavvy Agents, our AI voice agents, are in early access: we build your first agent with you. Agents will call back new leads who asked to hear from you and confirm meetings. They will say they are an AI first on every call, and put the caller through to a free rep or take a message whenever the caller asks for a person. Outbound agents will check for AI-voice consent on file before they dial; that check is coming, as are inbound calls and callback routing. Reps make the cold calls, and every rep call is checked against calling hours in the contact’s time zone and your do-not-call list before it rings (compliance checks).

Start your AI agent with people who asked to hear from you, and keep cold calls with your reps. To see how DialSavvy Agents (early access) would fit your team, book a demo.