An article published in Foreign Affairs on November 19, 2025, reports that foreign governments are using artificial intelligence to mass-produce propaganda, while U.S. institutions are not prepared to respond effectively to this threat.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a powerful tool of information warfare. According to the authors in Foreign Affairs, foreign governments – primarily China and Russia – are already using generative models to create personalized disinformation campaigns. At the same time, the United States is showing a weak systemic response: agencies responsible for countering foreign influence are being weakened, and mechanisms for oversight and regulation of AI models are still not in place.

As one of the most striking illustrations of this threat, the authors cite an example of a deepfake on the Signal platform, where a message allegedly sent by the U.S. Secretary of State was accompanied by an audio recording that sounded entirely convincing – but was artificially generated. Such technology can undermine diplomatic relations, destabilize political messaging, and create risks of leaking classified information. “Had the lie not been exposed, this trick could have sown discord, compromised U.S. diplomacy, or extracted confidential intelligence from Washington’s foreign partners,” note the article’s authors, James P. Rubin and Darian Vuicza.

Another dangerous trend is the use of AI to create personalized influence campaigns. According to the authors, the Chinese company GoLaxy used AI tools to build “digital profiles” of hundreds of U.S. lawmakers and public figures. With this data, it was then able to generate tailored content that closely matched the psychological preferences and political inclinations of each individual recipient – and to do so at the scale of millions of messages.

Rubin and Vuicza emphasize that while disinformation itself is nothing new, AI has made it far more scalable and effective. They argue that aggressor states no longer need to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in propaganda: generative AI allows influence campaigns to be launched with far fewer resources.

Most controversial, however, is the response of the United States. As the authors note, instead of strengthening institutions capable of countering foreign influence, the U.S. government is weakening its defensive mechanisms. In particular, they criticize decisions by the administration to dismantle or reduce the authority of bodies responsible for combating disinformation. A genuine counterstrategy, in their view, must include both technological and institutional solutions. This requires new structures to monitor the impact of AI-generated messaging, as well as audits of artificial intelligence models used to produce information content. They also call for the restoration of institutions tasked with countering disinformation.