AI’s Role in Spreading Misinformation During Conflict

In a striking coincidence of timing, Iran has leveraged AI-generated propaganda to dominate global attention just as OpenAI announced the shutdown of its video generation app Sora. This development highlights a significant shift in how information warfare is conducted in the digital age.

The viral Iranian propaganda videos circulating on social media platforms demonstrate a sophisticated approach to asymmetric media operations. Tehran’s media strategists have showcased remarkable cultural fluency, understanding of online communities, and mastery of powerful creation tools developed by American tech companies—effectively turning these technologies into “drones for your feed.”

As Donald Trump attempted to ease oil markets with hints of a potential deal, Iranian officials orchestrated a coordinated release of AI-generated videos through various channels, including embassy accounts, Russia Today, and influential MAGA personalities. These videos, widely acknowledged for their quality, employ diverse styles targeting specific audiences: some adopt the online language of the American right, while others remix Hollywood characters in ways that mirror what OpenAI’s canceled billion-dollar Disney partnership might have authorized. More religiously-themed content portrays Trump and Netanyahu as worshippers of Baal, drawing on imagery from both the Quran and Hebrew Bible.

Notably, these clips don’t attempt to pass as authentic war footage. Instead, they embrace their artificial nature, ranging from sentimental to triumphant in tone, often incorporating the playful humor characteristic of gaming communities. The creators have skillfully adapted formats from TikTok, The Lego Movie, and other popular cultural touchstones to maximize impact.

This development follows a pattern that researchers have long warned about: generative AI tools undermining the authority of visual evidence. Russia pioneered this approach in Ukraine and through global influence campaigns. Similar tactics appeared during brief India-Pakistan aerial conflicts, where social media misinformation overwhelmed traditional reporting. Israel’s Gaza operations have likewise been accompanied by widespread visual propaganda, including a recent incident where the Israeli military admitted to photoshopping a uniform onto a journalist killed in Lebanon to support claims he was a Hezbollah member.

Domestically, the Trump administration has reset norms around official communications, exemplified by the White House sharing altered footage of Minneapolis activist Nekima Levy Armstrong’s arrest. When questioned about this falsification, deputy White House communications director Kaelan Dorr’s response was telling: “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”

The current media environment represents a culmination of forces shaped by tech leaders like Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg alongside political figures including Peter Thiel and Donald Trump. Together, they’ve facilitated a transformation where America has surrendered its dominance in high-quality information assets for a system that distributes cheap, abundant media widely.

This shift occurred as tech companies and conservative politicians systematically undermined American journalism’s trustworthiness and constrained press freedoms. Google and Meta’s advertising duopoly accelerated traditional media’s economic collapse, with even Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post closing its Middle East bureaus just before the current conflict escalated.

Meanwhile, the dismantling of content moderation infrastructure has exacerbated the situation. Following disasters like the Rohingya genocide—which Facebook was implicated in facilitating—tech companies had developed frameworks for content moderation based on existing standards. However, this project has largely collapsed, with Stanford Information Laboratory shuttered, trust and safety teams at major platforms disbanded, and funding for countering misinformation drying up.

Iran, combining political repression with a vibrant cultural scene including literature, film, and advertising, brings formidable capabilities to this information battlefield. When factual authority is universally questioned, we’re left with AI-generated equivalents of 19th-century editorial cartoons, produced at industrial scale and distributed globally—an environment where America holds few advantages, particularly during a period of moral and political vulnerability.

The situation represents a profound challenge to democratic information ecosystems, one that advanced military technology alone cannot overcome. As this new reality unfolds, those who enabled these conditions in Silicon Valley and Washington may ultimately bear responsibility for both tactical failures and strategic geopolitical defeats.