US Officials Uncover Alleged Russian ‘bot Farm’
US officials have taken measures against an AI-powered information operation run from Russia, involving nearly 1,000 accounts impersonating Americans.
These accounts on X were automated “bots” spreading pro-Russia narratives, not real people.
Court documents released Tuesday revealed that the operation was orchestrated by a deputy editor at Kremlin-owned RT, formerly known as Russia Today.
RT, which broadcasts in English and other languages, is more popular on social media than on traditional TV.
The US Justice Department seized two websites used to send emails linked to the bot accounts and ordered X to provide information on 968 accounts identified as bots.
According to the court documents, artificial intelligence was employed to create these accounts, which then disseminated pro-Russian narratives, especially regarding the war in Ukraine.
FBI Director Christopher Wray stated, “Today’s actions mark the first disruption of a Russian-sponsored generative AI-enhanced social media bot farm.”
“Russia aimed to use this bot farm to spread AI-generated disinformation, leveraging AI to undermine our partners in Ukraine and influence geopolitical narratives favorable to the Russian government,” Wray added.
The accounts now appear to have been deleted by X, and screenshots shared by FBI investigators showed they had very few followers.
The court documents described the “bot farm” as the brainchild of an RT deputy editor-in-chief seeking new methods to distribute stories. RT America was shut down after major US cable TV providers dropped it following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Another RT employee developed the network, and later a Russian intelligence officer joined the effort, which the justice department described as an attempt “to sow discord in the United States by spreading misinformation.”
Anna Belkina, RT’s deputy editor-in-chief, told the BBC via email: “I’m more than happy to tend to my farm (dacha) – made up mostly of tomatoes and strawberries, but sadly without any help from the FSB,” the Russian security service.
Nina Jankowicz, head of the American Sunlight Project, a non-profit organisation attempting to combat the spread of disinformation, said it was not surprising that a Russia-linked operation was relying on AI to create fake accounts.
“This used to be one of the more time consuming parts of their work; now it has been made much smoother by the technologies that abetted this operation,” she said, noting that the operation appears to have been thwarted before it gained traction.
“Artificial intelligence is now clearly part of the disinformation arsenal,” Ms Jankowicz said.
The BBC contacted X and the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
A recent BBC investigation uncovered details of a separate attempt to bolster a Russia-based disinformation network, through the use of fake news sites populated by stories rewritten by AI.
