The quiet way AI normalizes foreign influence

Americans are being taught to trust propaganda. Often, it’s not intentional. A classic bit of advice for separating propaganda from real research is “Check the citations.” If the sources support the analysis, the material can be trusted. But AI is changing the rules of the game.

In December, the White House announced new guidance to ensure that AI tools procured for government use are “truthful” and “ideologically neutral,” including transparency around citation practices. But even with this new oversight there is a structural issue that the memo can’t fix; authoritarian states are optimizing their propaganda for AI consumption while America’s most credible news sources are actively blocking AI tools. This means that even ideologically neutral AI directs users towards state-aligned propaganda — simply because that is what is freely available.

Those who trust AI citations wind up trusting propaganda while believing they are doing responsible research.

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