The US Department of Justice reports that it has stopped a Russian government-backed, AI-enabled propaganda campaign to use a bot farm to spread disinformation.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has disrupted a Russian operation that used fake social media accounts enhanced by artificial intelligence to covertly spread pro-Kremlin messages in the US and abroad, it said.
Tuesday’s news comes four months before the U.S. presidential election, which security experts widely believe will be the target of both hackers and covert social media influence attempts by foreign adversaries. Senior US officials have said publicly that they are monitoring schemes designed to disrupt the vote.
The DOJ obtained court approval to seize two domain names and search about 1,000 social media accounts allegedly associated with the effort.
“With these actions, the Department of Justice disrupted a Russian government-backed, AI-enabled propaganda campaign to use a bot farm to spread disinformation in the United States and abroad,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Tuesday’s action marked the first time the U.S. has publicly accused a foreign government of using generative AI in a foreign influence operation, according to DOJ and FBI officials. U.S. officials have warned that adversaries could use the growing power of AI systems to step up efforts to spread disinformation.
Kremlin-financed effort
The alleged operation, according to prosecutors, was created through a private intelligence organization based in Russia, made up of Russian intelligence agents and a senior employee of the Moscow-based government-funded media outlet, Russia Today, or RT . The effort was approved and funded by the Kremlin in early 2023, according to the DOJ.
Spokespeople for the Russian embassy in Washington and RT did not respond to requests for comment.
This private organization designed a custom AI-powered platform to create, control and manage hundreds of fake social accounts, which were made to look like those of real Americans, according to court documents.
The accounts on social media platform X have since been banned. They often posted pro-Kremlin talking points, including videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and criticized the Ukrainian government.
The US worked with Dutch authorities on the investigation. The campaign was run from a server in the Netherlands, according to investigators.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
