Embarrassment for Russian AI as Kremlin Relies on American Software for Disinformation
Last week, OpenAI revealed the use of generative AI by Russian operatives for disinformation campaigns. These campaigns, known as Doppelganger and Bad Grammar, targeted multilingual audiences and Russian speakers, respectively. The use of American AI software, such as ChatGPT, was evident in content generation, translation, and coding for these campaigns.
Despite heavy investment in its own AI chatbots, Russia has fallen behind in producing high-quality Russian content for official purposes. Russian leaders, who once touted AI as the future, now express concerns about foreign AI domination. The Kremlin’s efforts to promote Russian AI as a means of preserving cultural values seem to have yielded little success.
While Russian tech bloggers previously praised local AI models like GigaChat and Alice, newer models like GPT-4o outperform them. However, non-Western alternatives like Chinese AI models are also gaining ground, leaving Russia in a subordinate position.
As the gap between American and Russian AI widens, the likelihood of Russians using foreign AI models over domestic ones increases. This trend poses a challenge to Putin’s vision of AI supremacy and raises concerns about the preservation of Russian culture.
In conclusion, the reliance on foreign AI for disinformation campaigns highlights Russia’s lag in AI development and the challenges it faces in achieving technological leadership. Putin’s ambitions for AI dominance may be undermined by the superior capabilities of foreign AI models.