China is using AI and fake social media accounts to sow division and distrust in the United States ahead of the presidential election, according to a stark new warning from Microsoft.
As Election Day approaches, Chinese cyber operatives are expected to deploy AI to create sophisticated deep-fake online videos featuring fake “news reports” and fake anchors.
The tech giant said Beijing is “doubling down” on its efforts to disrupt the election and is currently using fake online polls to decide which issues most divide Americans.
It will then post AI-generated memes, original imagery and infographics to stir up even more discord, most likely on the topics of immigration, race and drugs.
Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) General Manager Clint Watts said: “China is using fake social media accounts to survey voters about what most divides them in order to sow division and potentially change the outcome of the US presidential election in influence his advantage.
“China has also increased its use of AI-generated content to achieve its goals around the world.”
China is using fake social media accounts to sow division and potentially influence the outcome of the US presidential election in its favor.
Employees linked to the Chinese Communist Party have already “opportunistically” jumped on news events in the US
That includes the prolific group known as Storm-1376, Spamouflage or Dragonbridge, Microsoft said.
After a train derailment in Kentucky in November, the group urged people on social media to consider whether the U.S. government deliberately caused the crash and was “hiding something.”
It also spread a conspiracy theory that the August 2023 Maui wildfires were deliberately set by the U.S. government to test a “weather weapon.”
Other disinformation includes accusing the US of poisoning other countries’ water supplies to maintain “water hegemony.”
China uses fake social media accounts to poll voters on what divides them most, in order to sow division and potentially influence the outcome of the US presidential election in its favor
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called Joe Biden an “old friend.”
“In recent months there has actually been an increase in voting questions,” Watts said.
“This signals a deliberate effort to better understand which American voter demographic supports which issue or position.”
Chinese agents are using the polls to determine “which are the most divisive issues ahead of the main phase of the US presidential election,” he said.
He added: “These reports post almost exclusively about divisive domestic issues in the US, such as global warming, US border policies, drug use, immigration and racial tensions.
“They use original videos, memes and infographics, as well as recycled content from other high-profile political accounts.”
Microsoft has already seen a surge in Chinese AI-generated content aimed at influencing Taiwan’s presidential election in January.
Chinese Communist Party-affiliated agents spread conspiracy theories about Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster
A timeline of how AI was used in an attempt to influence Taiwan’s elections
It was the first time Microsoft has identified a nation-state actor using AI to influence foreign elections.
“With major elections taking place around the world this year, especially in India, South Korea and the United States, we believe that China will at least create and amplify AI-generated content to serve its interests,” wrote Watts.
Microsoft also said that North Korea has started using AI to steal cryptocurrency.