US intel claims Russia developed AI content to influence November presidential election

Russia has produced more AI-generated content to influence the upcoming U.S. presidential election than any other foreign entity, a U.S. intelligence official has claimed.

The official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), speaking on condition of anonymity, made the comment in a briefing to reporters on the alleged use of AI by Russia and other countries to influence the Nov. 5 vote, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

AI content produced by Moscow is "consistent with Russia's broader efforts to boost the former president's (Trump) candidacy and denigrate the vice president (Harris) and the Democratic Party, including through conspiratorial narratives," he said.

The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia previously has denied interfering in the U.S. election.

Like other forms of artificial intelligence, generative AI learns from past data how to take actions. Using that training, it creates new content like text, pictures and videos that appears to have been produced by humans.

The ODNI official said Russia is generating more AI content to influence the November election than any other country, but did not provide a volume of that AI content.

He said Russia was a much more sophisticated actor and had a better understanding of how U.S. elections work and appropriate targets.

Asked how Russia was disseminating AI content, the official pointed to a July 9 Justice Department announcement of the disruption of an alleged Moscow-backed operation that used AI-enhanced social media accounts to spread pro-Kremlin messages in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The official said "Russian influence actors" staged a widely reported video in which a woman claimed she was a victim of a hit-and-run car accident by Harris. The video, however, was staged rather than produced through AI, he said. Microsoft said last week its research showed that video was the work of a covert Russian disinformation operation.

News.Az