A Robocall Read Out an OpenAI Error, and a Virginia Court Said Texts Still Aren't Calls

According to the complaint in Lowrey v. Twilio, Inc., No. 6:25-CV-00116, a man got a voicemail from someone named "Emma" offering help with his late father's probate case. Her voice was allegedly a little too smooth. A few weeks later, "Nadine" allegedly called back with the same pitch. When he tried to get them to stop, the call allegedly glitched and read him an error message: "All three attempts failed. 429: you've exceeded your current quota. Please check your plan and billing detail."

Read that again.

That's why, according to TCPAWorld's write-up, the lawsuit named Twilio and OpenAI directly, and not just the probate company that hired them. These are allegations, of course.

Here's the thing ... the ruling is the real story

On October 1, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia (Judge Moon) issued a ruling that matters to anyone who sends texts. Two holdings, according to TCPAWorld's analysis:

1. Text messages are not "telephone calls" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) do-not-call private right of action, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5).
2. Cell phones are not "residential" lines under that same section.

Section 227(c)(5) is the one that lets someone sue after getting more than one telephone call in 12 months from the same company in violation of the do-not-call rules. Plaintiffs' firms have pushed hard to read "telephone call" to include texts.

The court said no. And I love how Judge Moon put it. "If someone says, 'I'm going to text you,' the listener would not expect a telephone call. Likewise, if someone says, 'I'm going to call you,' the listener would not expect a text."

That's pretty hard to argue with. Am I right?

It's not just one court

This court adopted the reasoning of the Seventh Circuit in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services (July 14, 2026). The analysis also points to other district courts arriving at the same result, including cases in the Northern District of Ohio, the Northern District of Georgia and the Middle District of Florida.

So it's a trend. Not an outlier.

Should you start texting everybody? No.

I get it. This sounds like a get-out-of-jail-free card. It isn't.

• It's one section of the law. This is about the do-not-call private right of action. Other parts of the TCPA, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, can reach texts.
• Courts disagree. The law where you're sued is what counts.
• States have their own rules. Florida, Oklahoma and others have mini-TCPAs.
• People still hate spam. Your brand still matters.

What to do this week

• Keep honoring STOP. Every time.
• Keep scrubbing against the Do Not Call Registry.
• Test your AI voice tools. If your bot can read an error message to a consumer, it can do worse.
• Know which vendors touch your calls and texts. In this case, the platforms got named too.

Do the boring stuff. It's what keeps the fun stuff alive.