TLDR:
- China is using deceptive social media accounts and AI-generated content to disrupt elections, according to Microsoft.
- There has been no change in China’s priorities, but a shift in tactics towards influencing U.S. politics.
Entities affiliated with China are using “deceptive” social media accounts to probe U.S. opinion on divisive issues in a potential attempt to gather information on how to disrupt elections, while also using AI-generated content to attempt to sway public opinion, according to a new report from Microsoft —though their success has been limited so far. The analysis from Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center found no change in China’s priorities or targets—seeking to launch “influence operations” targeting the South Pacific Islands, the South China Sea region and the U.S defense industrial base—but it noted the latest trends represent a change in tactics. Microsoft also flagged concerns about North Korea, noting the country has continued its longstanding efforts to steal cryptocurrency that funds its weapons program. North Korean cyber attackers have taken more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency heists since 2017, according to United Nations numbers cited by Microsoft. Microsoft says it observed the Chinese-affiliated network known as Spamouflage, which Microsoft refers to as Storm-1376, ramp up AI operations during the Taiwanese presidential election, promoting misleading AI-generated audio clips, memes and other content. In the U.S., Storm-1376 attempted to use AI-generated content to spread misinformation on a wide variety of issues—claiming the Maui wildfires in 2023 were staged by the U.S. government, for instance—though Microsoft finds “little evidence these efforts have been successful in swaying opinion.”