Associated Incidents
The latest debate in Virginia politics had Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Reid sparring with an AI-generated version of his opponent, Ghazala Hashmi.
Why it matters: This election year just keeps getting weirder.
Driving the news: Reid, a Richmond-area conservative radio host, staged a 40-minute "debate" solo on Tuesday night after Democratic state Sen. Hashmi repeatedly declined to participate.
- The YouTube broadcast involved Reid at a podium, facing off against a pixelated Hashmi giving AI-generated remarks in a robotic voice loosely mimicking the human senator.
- Reid's campaign told Axios the AI was trained on Hashmi's public statements.
- The questions, asked by a chatbot moderator in a suit, spanned from the economy, education and abortion to gun violence, immigration and the rights of transgender minors.
What they're saying: Hashmi's campaign told Axios that the senator didn't grant permission for her likeness to be used in this way.
- "Reid only cares about shoddy gimmicks," said campaign spokesperson Ava Pitruzzello, who noted the "AI Ghazala" did accurately share Hashmi's vision.
- Hashmi was attending an event on rising energy costs Tuesday night, per the campaign.
Meanwhile, Virginia's Democratic Party congratulated Hashmi for "winning."
The big picture: It's been a chaotic election year in Virginia --- from a scandal-plagued attorney general candidate to Reid's own party briefly trying to push him out over social media posts of nude men that Reid has repeatedly denied sharing.
The intrigue: Nationwide, the use of AI in politics --- including by President Trump --- has raised alarms about ethics and regulation.
- At least 27 states have regulated AI in political campaigns, per an Axios review, with some banning it in the months before an election.
- Gov. Youngkin vetoed a similar bill this year, calling it "an unworkable solution" with "an impractical enforcement structure."
What we're watching: Whether lawmakers revive AI deepfake restrictions in the next General Assembly session.