US, international authorities seize Russian AI bot farm | CyberScoop<\/title> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US, international authorities seize Russian AI bot farm\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FBI officials say that software relying on AI to generate bot accounts was developed under a top editor at Russian state-owned news outlet RT.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-09T19:10:08+00:00\"> <meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm-2.png\"> 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single single-post postid-80957 single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"24.399390243902\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"29.454545454545\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/threats\/cybercrime\/\"> <span>Cybercrime<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> FBI officials say that software relying on AI to generate bot accounts was developed under a top editor at Russian state-owned news outlet RT. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"352\" 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1072px\"><figcaption> A screenshot from a Department of Justice affidavit on an AI-fueled Russian bot farm. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"47.156219296522\"><body readability=\"95.205286343612\"><\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice said Tuesday that it had seized a pair of internet domains and hundreds of social media accounts that authorities claim were part of a Russian-government bot farm that used AI to generate content aimed at meddling in American politics. <\/p>\n<p>According to warrants issued in an Arizona district court late last month, Russian operatives relied on a pair of domains to register 968 unique accounts on the social media platform X. The warrants allege that the accounts were created in 2022 at the behest of the deputy editor-in-chief of the Russian state news outlet RT. <\/p>\n<p>The email addresses and phone numbers used to purchase the domains were traced to a person identified as the lead developer of \u201cMeliorator,\u201d which authorities described as a \u201ccovert artificial intelligence-enhanced software package.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/d9\/2024-07\/affidavit_for_two_domains.pdf\">two<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/d9\/2024-07\/affadavit_for_968_x_accounts.pdf\">warrants<\/a> \u2014 issued June 27 in the U.S. District Court of Arizona \u2014 order the domain name registrar Namecheap to redirect the domains in question, \u201cMLRTR.com\u201d and \u201cOTANMAIL.com,\u201d to servers controlled by the FBI. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to a joint<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/Media\/News\/2024\/240709.pdf\"> advisory<\/a> released Tuesday by the United States, the Netherlands and Canada, \u201caffiliates of RT\u201d used Meliorator and its AI capabilities to create a bot farm featuring false personas of various nationalities in order to spread disinformation and narratives favorable to the Russian government on X.<\/p>\n<p>Meliorator can create social media personas \u201cen masse,\u201d post content, mimic the tone of ordinary social media users and align the substance of their posts with other disinformation accounts and bots, according to the advisory. There was also evidence that program developers were working to expand its functionality to other social platforms.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"629\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm-1.png?resize=624%2C629&ssl=1\"><\/p>\n<p>The operation targeted audiences in the United States, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Spain and Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s law enforcement operation comes as U.S. intelligence officials and private threat intelligence organizations<a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/after-a-sleepy-primary-season-russia-enters-2024-u-s-election-fray\/\"> have warned<\/a> in recent months that the focus of Russian disinformation operations have shifted to focus more heavily on the upcoming U.S. elections. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Groups traced to the Russian government, like<a href=\"https:\/\/www.disinfo.eu\/doppelganger-operation\/\"> Doppelganger<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.recordedfuture.com\/russia-linked-copycop-uses-llms-to-weaponize-influence-content-at-scale\"> CopyCop<\/a>, are increasingly incorporating generative AI tools into their propaganda efforts, though reports by industry players like<a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/russian-influence-op-keeps-trying-but-struggles-to-win-hearts-and-minds\/\"> Meta and<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/index\/disrupting-deceptive-uses-of-AI-by-covert-influence-operations\/\"> OpenAI<\/a> have cautioned that these efforts have largely been unsuccessful at reaching large audiences and gaining traction online.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s action demonstrates that the Justice Department and our partners will not tolerate Russian government actors and their agents deploying AI to sow disinformation and fuel division among Americans,\u201d Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p>Citing information obtained from an unnamed U.S. agency, the FBI claims that the RT deputy editor-in-chief pitched the outlet\u2019s leadership on the development of the new software prior to 2022, when they were looking for \u201calternative means for distributing information beyond RT\u2019s standard television news broadcasts.\u201d The network\u2019s RT America channel would later<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/media\/2022\/03\/03\/rt-america-production-company-closes\/\"> shut down<\/a> in March 2022 after it was dropped by DirecTV and Dish Network.<\/p>\n<p>Leadership at RT approved the development of Meliorator, and less than a year later the project was folded into a new private intelligence organization created by the FSB and approved by top Kremlin leadership in order to sow discord in the United States, according to court documents.<\/p>\n<p>In response to a request for comment from CyberScoop, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/op-ed\/authors\/anna-belkina\/\">Anna Belkina<\/a>, RT\u2019s deputy editor-in-chief and head of communications, marketing and strategic development, said she\u2019s \u201cmore than happy to tend to my farm (dacha) \u2014 which is made up mostly of tomatoes and strawberries.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bots featured in the Russian campaign responded directly to posts on X from candidates running for federal office in the United States, pretending to be from the candidates\u2019 home district. The posts pushed back on U.S. support for Ukraine and claimed that countries like Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania owe Russia a debt of gratitude for \u201cliberating\u201d them from Nazi rule during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>An FBI official wrote in an affidavit that seizure of the domains \u201cwould have a significant impact on the actor\u2019s malicious activities,\u201d preventing them from using multifactor authentication needed to pass X\u2019s bot filters, stopping the creation of new profiles using emails from the seized domains and blocking delivery of emails to the servers.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.5839416058394\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Derek B. Johnson\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Derek B. Johnson<\/h4>\n<p> Derek B. Johnson is a reporter at CyberScoop, where his beat includes cybersecurity, elections and the federal government. Prior to that, he has provided award-winning coverage of cybersecurity news across the public and private sectors for various publications since 2017. 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{"id":4372,"date":"2024-07-09T14:10:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T19:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=80957"},"modified":"2024-07-09T14:10:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T19:10:08","slug":"us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/07\/09\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"US, international authorities seize Russian AI bot farm"},"content":{"rendered":"