US, allies take down Kremlin-backed AI bot farm
The FBI dismantled two websites and nearly 1,000 accounts on the X social media platform that were used by Kremlin spin doctors to run an AI-powered campaign that sought to spread disinformation within the U.S. and abroad.
The disinformation operation was carried out by a bot farm, a network of automated accounts, or “bots,” controlled to perform tasks across digital platforms, including spreading propaganda, amplifying messages or engaging in coordinated campaigns to influence public opinion.
“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,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
A separate affidavit indicates that the bot operation first began in 2022 through an unnamed “Individual A” that worked as the deputy editor-in-chief of state-run Russian news organization RT. At that time, RT leadership aimed to find new ways to disseminate information beyond their traditional TV broadcasts. Individual A spearheaded the creation of software to run the social media bot farm, which would generate fake online personas to distribute information widely, DOJ said.
The move could serve as another warning sign to Moscow to refrain from deploying similar tactics in November, after the Treasury Department in March sanctioned Kremlin-backed firms for operating a collection of fake news sites that sought to tip the outcomes of since-past European elections. Russia’s embassy in Washington, D.C. did not return a request for comment.
Officials and researchers fear that consumer-facing AI tools or similar offerings available on the dark web will supercharge hackers’ abilities to craft realistic-sounding campaigns that seek to or instill distrust in domestic democratic processes, including the upcoming election.
https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/20...rm/397912/
The FBI dismantled two websites and nearly 1,000 accounts on the X social media platform that were used by Kremlin spin doctors to run an AI-powered campaign that sought to spread disinformation within the U.S. and abroad.
The disinformation operation was carried out by a bot farm, a network of automated accounts, or “bots,” controlled to perform tasks across digital platforms, including spreading propaganda, amplifying messages or engaging in coordinated campaigns to influence public opinion.
“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,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
A separate affidavit indicates that the bot operation first began in 2022 through an unnamed “Individual A” that worked as the deputy editor-in-chief of state-run Russian news organization RT. At that time, RT leadership aimed to find new ways to disseminate information beyond their traditional TV broadcasts. Individual A spearheaded the creation of software to run the social media bot farm, which would generate fake online personas to distribute information widely, DOJ said.
The move could serve as another warning sign to Moscow to refrain from deploying similar tactics in November, after the Treasury Department in March sanctioned Kremlin-backed firms for operating a collection of fake news sites that sought to tip the outcomes of since-past European elections. Russia’s embassy in Washington, D.C. did not return a request for comment.
Officials and researchers fear that consumer-facing AI tools or similar offerings available on the dark web will supercharge hackers’ abilities to craft realistic-sounding campaigns that seek to or instill distrust in domestic democratic processes, including the upcoming election.
https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/20...rm/397912/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"