In an Instagram video posted on April 1, lifestyle influencer Melissa Strahle poses outdoors in front of an American flag while listening to tender instrumental music. “Artificial intelligence allows me to focus on what is most important,” he tells his 1.4 million followers. “We must invest in American-made AI to ensure America leads in innovation and job creation.”
Strahle described the post as an advertisement, but did not reveal what organization paid for it. It turns out that the funds came from Build American AI, a shadowy money group associated with Leading the Future, and 100 million dollars a super PAC backed by, and in some cases directly funded by, tech industry insiders with ties to companies like OpenAI and Palantir.
The video is part of a coordinated influence campaign funded by Build American AI and being rolled out across social media in two phases. The first focused on working with lifestyle influencers like Strahle, who did not respond to a request for comment, to promote the U.S. AI industry and American innovation. But the second and current phase of the campaign concerns only China.
Marketing agencies are offering influencers offers such as $5,000 for a TikTok video to reinforce Build American AI’s message about how China’s technological rise should be viewed as a threat. The goal, according to an employee of SM4, the influencer marketing agency running the campaign on behalf of Build American AI, is to subtly change the public debate by perceiving the development of artificial intelligence in China as a solemn threat to the safety and well-being of Americans.
“They want someone to mention China and America and why defeating China is so important,” the employee says.
Sample messages provided to content creators by Build American AI include the following: “I just learned that China is trying really hard to beat the US in AI. If that happens, it could mean China receiving personal information from me and my children and taking jobs that should be here in the US. In the AI innovation race, I am Team USA!!!”
WIRED learned about the campaign after the author of this article was invited by SM4 to participate. The details were later confirmed by several other content creators who received similar contact.
Josh Murphy, an environmentalist with over 130,000 followers on Instagram who says he hasn’t responded to SM4’s offer, explains that while he’s “not necessarily anti-AI,” he didn’t like the pairing of blanket praise for the technology with an aggressive anti-China message. “Artificial intelligence can be fully harnessed for the betterment of humanity,” Murphy says, “but this unregulated industry that we have today, which is just crazy tech bros who pursue greed at the expense of everything else, is just not what it needs to be.”
“The United States has the opportunity to remain a global leader in artificial intelligence innovation, and we are taking that message to as wide an audience as possible by implementing all of the above communication strategies,” Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for Leading the Future, said of the campaign. “Dark money convict groups have spent millions spreading disinformation to the American public, and we will not leave this unchallenged. We will continue to highlight the economic benefits of artificial intelligence, counter false narratives, and build the coalition necessary to advance the nation’s regulatory framework using every tool at our disposal.”
Supporters Leader of the future according to the PAC, they include OpenAI CEO and co-founder Greg Brockman, venture capitalist and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and artificial intelligence firm Perplexity. Leader of the future he says yes has received a total of $140 million in contributions and pledges, and as of April, $51 million can be spent on its AI program. NOTUS information service called the group “a huge policy chest for the AI industry.”