Violent non-state actors and generative AI in warfare: The Rsf and the Sudanese civil war

One of many buildings in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, impacted by the war that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. (United Nations photo)

By Matthew Turner • Feb 12, 2026

Generative AI is rapidly becoming a critical component of information warfare. A number of violent non-state actors are beginning to embrace this new technology, which has substantially altered the information ecosystem within the ongoing Sudanese Civil War.

The information sphere has been an important aspect of human warfare for millennia. The ancient Sumerians built massive monuments of their kings destroying their enemies, the pharaohs of Egypt spread state iconography of the “miserable Asiatic” to foment xenophobia among their subjects, and the First Crusade was inflamed by rumors of Muslim atrocities in Jerusalem. With the development of the Internet and artificial intelligence (AI), the information sphere has taken on an even more crucial role in warfare.

Africa is uniquely vulnerable to AI-generated content. Coordinated disinformation campaigns have quadrupled across the continent since 2022, fueled in large part by Russia and China. Russia’s former Wagner Group, now known as Africa Corps, has played a large role in providing AI-generated imagery to the continent, including countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.