Russia-linked AI disinformation targets US Senate candidates

Social media videos believed to be produced with artificial intelligence and linked to Russia are misusing the names and photographs of real individuals to spread disinformation about Democratic Senate candidates.

In Ohio, videos targeting Sherrod Brown appear to depict a newscast using images of former staff members, including Haya Akbik. Akbik stated that the claims attributed to her in the clips are completely false and damaging to her reputation.

In Texas, another video targeting James Talarico is framed as a direct-to-camera confessional from a former student. A spokesperson for Talarico characterized the videos as slander involving AI deepfakes and foreign bots. The social media platform X has reportedly taken down the initial posts sharing these videos.