Microsoft said many AI tools are being actively used by Chinese-backed groups to generate and spread controversial content to sow division in the United States and abroad.
In a new report, the company claims that the circulation of artificial inflation and divisive issues is aimed at dividing American society and encouraging criticism of the Biden administration, especially in the lead-up to election season. ing.
Much of the content disseminated by Chinese government-backed groups centers on U.S. government complicity in natural and man-made disasters, alluding to secret weapons tests and ulterior motives as causes.
Society is divided before the election
Artificial weather manipulation has become a popular topic for conspiracy theorists. A Chinese-backed group known as Storm-1376 has added fuel to the fire with several posts claiming that the August 2023 Hawaiian wildfires were actually caused by tests of the military's secret weapon “weather weapons.” I poured it. The post included AI-generated images of coastal land and roads engulfed by massive fires, and was translated into 31 languages to widen the post's audience and further fan the flames.
The second post took aim at Japan's decision to dispose of nuclear wastewater, deemed safe by the International Atomic Energy Agency, into the Pacific Ocean. Some posts accused the US government of encouraging this decision to contaminate other countries' water supplies.
Storm-1376 may be attempting to influence the upcoming US presidential election using lessons learned from Taiwan's election interference attempt earlier this year. The group began by artificially amplifying several fake posts and memes in December 2023, and later created its own original content, including a deepfake audio of candidate Terry Gow endorsing another candidate on Election Day. now generate and post content.
There were also numerous posts alleging U.S. government involvement in the Thanksgiving train derailment in Kentucky, and suggesting that the government was “intentionally hiding something” from the molten sulfur spill near the town of Livingston. ing.
