A China will attempt to disrupt elections in the US, South Korea and India this year with content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) after a rehearsal with the presidential election in Taiwan, alerted the Microsoft.
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The US technology company said it expects Chinese state-backed cyber groups to target high-profile elections in 2024, with North Korea also involved, according to a report from the company's threat intelligence team published on Friday. .
“As populations in India, South Korea and the United States head to the polls, we are likely to see Chinese cyber and influence actors, and to some extent North Korean cyber actors, work to target these elections,” says the report.
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A Microsoft said that “at a minimum” China will create and distribute through social media AI-generated content that “benefits its positions in these high-profile elections.”
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The company added that the impact of AI-powered content was small, but warned that this could change.
“While the impact of this content on influencing audiences remains low, China’s increasing experimentation in boosting memes, videos and audio will continue – and may prove effective in the future,” said the Microsoft.
A Microsoft said in the report that China has already attempted an AI-generated disinformation campaign in the presidential election of Taiwan in January. The company said this was the first time it had seen a state-backed entity using AI-powered content in an attempt to influence a foreign election.
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A Beijing-backed group called Storm 1376, also known as Spamouflage or Dragonbridge, was highly active during the Taiwanese election. His attempts to influence the election included posting fake audio on YouTube of election candidate Terry Gou – who had withdrawn in November – endorsing another candidate. A Microsoft said the clip was “likely AI-generated.” YouTube removed the content before it reached many users.
The Beijing-backed group released a series of AI-generated memes about the eventually successful candidate, William Lai – a pro-sovereignty candidate opposed to Beijing – that made baseless accusations against Lai, accusing him of embezzling state funds. There has also been an increase in the use of AI-generated TV news presenters, a tactic that has also been used by Iran, with the “host” making unproven claims about Lai's private life, including paternity of illegitimate children.
A Microsoft said that news presenters were created by the tool cap cut, developed by the Chinese company ByteDance, owner of TikTok.
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A Microsoft added that Chinese groups continue to carry out influence campaigns in the US. She said Beijing-backed actors are using social media accounts to pose “divisive issues” and try to understand the issues that divide American voters.
“This could be to gather intelligence and accuracy on key voter segments ahead of the US presidential election,” said the Microsoft in a blog post accompanying the report.
A post on . He asked, “What is your reaction?” Another highlighted the loss of an F-118 fighter jet in South Carolina last year, saying that “only under the Biden administration” could valuable military equipment be lost – although wreckage was found soon after – and asked “what do you think from that?"
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The report was published the same week that an official review board appointed by the White House said a “cascade of errors” by the Microsoft allowed state-backed Chinese cyber operators to hack into the email accounts of senior US officials. Last month, the US and UK governments accused Chinese-backed hackers of waging a multi-year cyber campaign targeting politicians, journalists and businesses, as well as the UK electoral authority.
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