NYT reveals that Israeli parliamentarians used AI to manipulate US lawmakers

An investigation conducted by New York Times (NYT) exposed that the Israeli government spent at least US$2 million in an online influence campaign.

The campaign used hundreds of fake social media accounts and three fictitious news sites to promote messages pro-Israel.

According to the NOWthe efforts aimed to influence US lawmakers to support funding for Israeli actions in Gaza.

O Israel Ministry of Diaspora Affairsresponsible for connecting Jews around the world with Israel, would have commissioned the campaign, according to four Israeli authorities cited by the NYT.

The initial investigation into the campaign was carried out by the Israeli group Fake Reporter, which monitors media activities.

A Stoican Israeli political marketing company, was the campaign manager, which used the ChatGPT to generate posts.

The operation began shortly after the events of October 7, with a meeting in mid-October seeking to recruit “digital soldiers” from Israel’s technology startups.

The NYT reported that the campaign targeted more than a dozen members of the US Congressfocusing on Democrats and African Americans.

Metathe parent company of Facebookit’s at Open AIwhich manages the ChatGPTconfirmed the involvement of Stoic in the campaign. Meta identified and removed hundreds of accounts associated with the operation on the Facebook and Instagram platforms.

The revelation comes at a delicate time, with the US continuing to supply weapons to Israel and the US House of Representatives seeking to impose sanctions on International Criminal Court for his decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.

O Ministry of Diaspora Affairs denied involvement with the campaign or any ties to Stoic.

With information from The Cradle