IRAN, CHINA AND ISRAELI GROUPS LINKED TO AI-POWERED SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE CAMPAIGNS

Mon 21 September 2026:

AI agents reportedly used to create fake accounts, spread political content and coordinate online activity with limited human involvement

Iran, China and groups in Israel have used artificial intelligence to conduct new types of social media influence operations, raising concerns among US officials and cybersecurity researchers about the increasing ability of AI systems to operate with minimal human supervision, The New York Times reported Friday.

According to the report, the campaigns relied on publicly available Chinese AI models to create autonomous “agents” capable of performing a range of online activities.

Hundreds of these AI-powered agents were reportedly used to establish networks of fake accounts on major US social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok.

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AI Agents Automate Influence Operations

The accounts were then used to publish material about politics and current affairs while coordinating posts, interactions and messaging across platforms.

US officials and cybersecurity researchers described the operations as among the first known examples in which AI agents powered by Chinese models were used across almost the entire process of a social media influence campaign.

While the operations were considered relatively unsophisticated, researchers said they demonstrated how widely available AI technology could automate activities that previously required large numbers of human operators.

US intelligence agencies, technology companies and cybersecurity researchers investigated the campaigns and attributed the Chinese and Iranian operations to state-backed actors, according to the report.

Iranian Campaign Targeted US Audiences

The Iranian operation reportedly focused on US audiences, with AI-generated personas presenting themselves as ordinary Americans living in major cities.

The accounts shared widely circulated memes, tagged journalists and politicians and promoted messages critical of the Republican Party.

According to the report, nearly 80,000 people followed the AI-generated accounts, which remained active during the first half of the year.

The use of AI-generated personas allowed operators to create and manage networks of accounts at a scale that would have been more difficult and costly through entirely human-run operations.

Israeli Campaigns Also Under Investigation

The report also described two influence campaigns in Israel that were linked to private companies rather than directly attributed to the Israeli government.

One operation was associated with IntelEye, a Tel Aviv-based company, and reportedly involved AI agents controlling thousands of social media accounts while participating in online discussions connected to Israel’s upcoming elections.

IntelEye said the activity was a defensive research experiment intended to examine how AI models could potentially be abused.

The cases illustrate growing concerns among researchers and officials that autonomous AI agents could make online influence operations faster, cheaper and more scalable, while making it harder for platforms and investigators to identify who is behind coordinated activity.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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