US disrupts Russian AI bot farm impersonating Americans
Russian state broadcaster RT broadcasting from near Red Square during the 2018 World Cup in Moscow. The Justice Department alleges an RT employee was behind an AI-powered effort to create fake social media profiles of Americans to spread Russian propaganda in the U.S. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The US Department of Justice announced it has disrupted a Russian propaganda campaign that used artificial intelligence to create fake social media accounts, spreading disinformation in the US and other countries.
The bot farm utilized AI to generate profiles impersonating Americans on X, formerly known as Twitter, posting content supporting Russia's war in Ukraine and other pro-Kremlin narratives.
This operation was part of a Kremlin-approved and funded project managed by a Russian intelligence officer. The DOJ alleged that the bot farm and the AI software behind it were organized by an unnamed editor at RT, the Russian state-owned media outlet.
Intelligence and security officials have warned that Russia is intensifying its propaganda efforts during a busy global election year, aiming to undermine international support for Ukraine and discredit democratic adversaries. The Kremlin has long used fake social media accounts to sow discord and advance its interests.
The rise of AI technology, which enables the rapid and realistic generation of text, images, audio, and video, has heightened concerns about the potential for these tools to produce more propaganda and disinformation at scale. Recently, Facebook's parent company Meta and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, reported identifying foreign influence campaigns using AI, including some linked to Russia.
FBI Director Christopher Wray stated, "Russia intended to use this bot farm to disseminate AI-generated foreign disinformation, scaling their work with the assistance of AI to undermine our partners in Ukraine and influence geopolitical narratives favorable to the Russian government."
RT has promoted the Russian government's agenda to international audiences, including in the US, for years. However, the outlet's reach diminished following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, leading the European Union to ban Russian state media and tech companies like TikTok, Facebook, and Google to limit access.
The DOJ revealed that RT has been seeking alternative distribution channels, with the bot farm being part of these efforts. When asked for comment on the allegations, RT's press office replied, "Farming is a beloved pastime for millions of Russians."
The DOJ reported nearly a thousand fake profiles on X were part of the Russian campaign. This included a user claiming to live in Minneapolis, posting videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin justifying actions in Ukraine and asserting parts of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania were "gifts" from Russian forces after World War II.
X suspended the accounts for terms of service violations, according to the DOJ. It remains unclear how many people followed or interacted with the fake accounts, as X did not respond to a request for comment.
Additionally, the DOJ seized two domain names used by the bot farm to create email accounts for setting up the fake X accounts.