Will nation-states use AI to usher in apocalypse?

The following is a guest post and opinion of Manouk Termaaten, Founder and CEO of Vertical Studio AI

Governments are using AI for disinformation—an unethical, authoritarian use with grave implications for freedom and truth around the world.

The fact that nation-states use AI for disinformation has major implications for freedom of thought, free elections, and the sovereignty of nation-states from foreign adversaries. Governments all over the world are using this technology to keep populations in a constant state of confusion.

China, for instance, has been accused by Taiwan of employing generative AI to litter the island nation with disinformation. According to the island’s National Security Bureau, the goal is to divide Taiwan’s public. Taiwan views the action as yet one more attempt to undermine its sovereignty.

In a report sent to parliament, the country’s security bureau claimed it had discovered over half a million “controversial messages” in 2025 already, most of which were on Facebook and TikTok.

“As the application of AI technology becomes more widespread and mature, it has also been found that the Chinese Communist Party has been using AI tools to assist in the generation and dissemination of controversial messages,” the report said.

Many other examples of nation-states using AI for disinformation purposes persist.

In 2024, Russia’s state-backed Pravda Network inundated the World Wide Web with 3.6 million fake articles. The goal? To manipulate AI models to adopt pro-Kremlin narratives and thereby influence public opinion. Clearly, Russia sees AI as a way to promote its propaganda and has even targeted U.S. citizens.

China also exercised influence via AI over Taiwan’s 2024 election, in which China-based operations created AI-generated deepfake videos to spread disinformation, including a contrived history of outgoing leader Tsai Ing-wen. Microsoft called it the first known example of a nation-state using AI material to affect the outcome of a foreign election.

In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Iran used AI-driven trolls to create targeted disinformation campaigns to destabilize U.S. democratic processes. These efforts led to two Iranian nationals being charged for cyber-enabled disinformation threats and campaigns.

In 2023, Venezuelan state media employed AI tools to manufacture deepfake videos with AI-generated news anchors for a fake English-language channel meant to spread pro-government propaganda and improve the Venezuelan regime’s image at home and abroad.

Slovakia’s 2023 election saw AI-generated audio released falsely depicting a phone call between a journalist and the leader of the Progressive Slovakia political party in which election rigging is discussed. The deepfake circulated ahead of the election and is thought to have led to the party’s loss in the election.

The U.S. is also engaging in such practices with a public investment in “cognitive warfare,” China claims. The Chinese government claims that AI bot networks are spreading false claims and disinformation to harm China’s reputation.

There are obviously major concerns with the use of AI by nation-states to interfere with the political processes of other nations. It is a huge affront to individual liberty by affecting people’s thoughts and decisions. Nation-states can use AI as a tool for propaganda to expand their power, limiting individual rights.

AI used in this manner undermines the free marketplace of ideas. It stamps out open debate in favor of government narratives, distorting political processes and preventing honest electoral outcomes.

The use of AI by governments is just another example of those in authority abusing their power. Except now, AI raises the stakes, making governments able to trick not only their own populations but populations abroad into believing untruths. It’s a slippery slope toward totalitarianism.

Misinforming individuals is a form of coercion, and populations must recognize this tactic and not fall for the deceptive practices being waged by governments against citizens.