The Kremlin has created more AI content to influence the US presidential election than any other foreign power. In particular, this is happening within the framework of efforts to support Donald Trump.
Points of attention
- Russia is actively using artificial intelligence to promote Trump and discredit Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party.
- The Kremlin is creating more AI content to influence US elections than any other foreign power, with a focus on the Harris-Walz campaign.
- Russian bots are spreading fake videos to discredit Kamala Harris and influence the political situation in the US.
- Dissemination of disinformation videos and imitation of events through artificial intelligence are complex methods of influencing public opinion in Ukraine and the world.
How the Russian Federation uses AI to influence the US presidential election
According to a representative of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), who wished to remain anonymous, Russia is actively using artificial intelligence to promote Trump and discredit Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, including through conspiracy theories.
Generative AI, the official explained, creates content — text, images and video — that looks human-made, based on learning from previous data.
According to an ODNI representative, Russia uses AI content to influence elections more than other countries, although the exact amount of such content is not known. She also has better experience and a better understanding of how US elections work and what targets to choose for influence.
When asked about the methods used to distribute this content, the official referred to a July 9 Justice Department statement regarding a Russian operation that used AI-enhanced social media accounts to influence the United States and other countries.
In particular, "Russian influencers" created a video in which a woman accuses Kamala Harris of fleeing the scene of the accident. Although the video was staged and not AI-generated, Microsoft found it to be part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
China also uses AI content, but mostly to build its international image, not to interfere in US elections.
Russian bots are spreading fake videos to discredit Kamala Harris
As noted in a report by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), over the past few months, Russia has changed its tactics to influence the political situation in the United States, focusing on the Harris-Walz campaign by distributing disinformation videos.
Two groups of trolls are mentioned, Storm-1516 and the new Storm-1679, who created and distributed two videos about Harris that have received millions of views.
The first video is about an alleged attack by Harris supporters on a rally participant in support of Donald Trump. In the second video, the actress, who looks like Harris, is shown running from the scene of the accident.
These videos are distributed under the name of a fictitious local San Francisco media outlet created a few days before they were published.
A new troll group, Storm-1679, has shifted its focus from content about the Paris Olympics to spreading fake videos discrediting Harris. One such video, which contained false claims, garnered more than 100,000 views on Telegram within hours.
