Microsoft said in September 2023 that China had developed AI image-generation capabilities for influence operations designed to mimic U.S. voters and inflame political and social divisions. The company described viral reach as an aim or possibility—not an outcome it had verified—and said it remained to be seen whether or when China would deploy the capability at scale.
What Microsoft said China was doing with AI
On September 7, 2023, Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) reported that China had developed a capability to automatically generate images for influence operations. The images were intended to resemble U.S. voters across the political spectrum and provoke controversy around racial, economic, and ideological divisions. Microsoft said they were likely made with diffusion-powered image generators. Microsoft’s September 2023 assessment framed viral spread across social networks in the United States and other democracies as a potential for the capability, not a demonstrated result.
Microsoft also described a broader campaign by China-affiliated actors using AI-generated visual media on politically divisive subjects, including gun violence, and to denigrate U.S. political figures and symbols. It said these visuals were more eye-catching than earlier digital drawings and stock-photo collages. This is Microsoft’s threat assessment; it does not independently establish how widely the content reached people or what effect it had.
Did Microsoft say the images went viral?
No. Microsoft said it remained to be seen how and when China would deploy the image-generation capability at scale. The report therefore supports a claim about a developed capability and its intended or potential use—not proof that the specific images went viral, were deployed at scale, or changed an election. The available reporting does not establish whether China later used this precise capability at scale or how large its audience impact was.
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What the influencer-network numbers measure
Microsoft also reported on a broader network of state media employees and affiliates masquerading as independent influencers. Those figures describe the network, not the audience or performance of the AI-generated images.
| Figure | What it refers to |
|---|---|
| More than 230 | State media employees and affiliates Microsoft said masqueraded as independent social media influencers across major Western platforms. |
| At least 103 million | Combined followers attributed to those state-backed influencers across multiple platforms—not views or engagement for the AI-generated images. |
| At least 40 languages | The language reach Microsoft attributed to the broader influencer network. |
All three figures are from Microsoft’s 2023 assessment. They should not be treated as measurements of the AI-image effort’s reach.
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What later reporting says about AI and influence operations
Later Canadian government assessments describe AI use in foreign influence operations more broadly, including by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). They provide context for the threat but do not confirm that China deployed the specific image-generation capability Microsoft discussed in 2023.
Canada’s 2025–2026 threat assessment
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security’s National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025–2026 says a growing number of countries—including the PRC, Russia, Iran, and Israel—have reportedly incorporated AI-generated articles, images, and videos into online influence operations to improve campaign quality and scale. It says campaigns may also use AI-generated bot accounts and personas to amplify engagement.
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The assessment identifies conditions that may make AI-enhanced disinformation more likely to gain traction: amplifying existing polarization, filling an information void, appearing to come from a trusted or official source, or targeting a time-sensitive situation when there is little time to debunk it. These are risk factors, not evidence that any particular campaign succeeded.
Global election figures for 2023–2024
In its 2025 update, the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE) reported on AI-related activity across elections worldwide. The figures below cover all foreign actors in the reporting, not China alone, and do not verify deployment or impact of the specific capability in Microsoft’s 2023 report.
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| Reported measure | Scope |
|---|---|
| 27% | Share of elections worldwide held between 2023 and 2024 that CSE said hostile foreign actors used AI to target. |
| 60 | Reported AI-generated synthetic disinformation campaigns among 151 global elections held between 2023 and 2024. |
| 34 | Known or likely cases of AI-enabled social botnets among those 151 global elections. |
CSE’s 2025 update on foreign interference and Canada’s democratic process also says foreign actors, particularly those affiliated with Russia and the PRC, use AI to sow division and distrust, flood the information environment with false information, and create or spread viral disinformation. It assessed that the PRC, Russia, and Iran would very likely use AI tools in attempts to interfere with Canada’s 2025 federal election, while judging it very unlikely that AI-enabled activity would fundamentally undermine that election’s integrity.
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How to read claims about AI propaganda
- Check the source and date. Microsoft’s capability claim dates to September 2023; later Canadian reports describe broader developments and activity.
- Separate capability from observed deployment. A tool or campaign designed to seek viral reach is not proof of viral performance.
- Keep metrics in scope. Microsoft’s follower and language figures describe a broader influencer network; CSE’s election figures are global, not China-specific.
- Distinguish activity from impact. Reports of campaigns or botnets do not by themselves show how many people saw the material or whether it changed their views.
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