United States imposes sanctions on Russian group for election disinformation generated by artificial intelligence.
Both tried to "stir up sociopolitical tensions."
The United States has imposed sanctions on several organizations from Russia and Iran due to their attempts to interfere in the 2024 presidential elections. The Treasury Department announced that these groups aimed to "stir up socio-political tensions" and manipulate voters.
One of the sanctioned entities is the Geopolitical Expertise Center, located in Moscow, which has links to Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). This organization developed a server to host its artificial intelligence tools to avoid foreign hosting services that could block its activities. Using these tools, it quickly generated "disinformation" that was disseminated through numerous fake news websites, in addition to providing funding to U.S. companies to maintain its AI server and operate a network of "at least 100 websites" involved in its efforts.
Moreover, it has been reported that this group manipulated a video to launch unfounded accusations against a vice presidential candidate for 2024. In October, U.S. authorities accused Russia of producing a video aimed at damaging the reputation of Tim Walz, the running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Additionally, the Cognitive Design Production Center, a subsidiary of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran, was also sanctioned, as it is attributed with planning to interfere in the elections "since at least 2023." In the weeks leading up to the election, the U.S. Department of Justice filed charges against Iranian citizens for their alleged involvement in a cyberattack against the campaign of elected President Donald Trump. Furthermore, OpenAI reported the banning of ChatGPT accounts linked to an Iranian influence operation.
Bradley Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated that "the governments of Iran and Russia have directed their actions against our electoral processes and institutions, seeking to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns."
