Dark Money Pays Influencers to Portray Chinese AI as Threat

In an Instagram post on April 1, lifestyle influencer Melissa Strahle stood in front of an American flag as gentle instrumental music played. “AI lets me focus on what matters most,” she told her 1.4 million followers. “We need to invest in American-made AI to ensure America leads the way in innovation and job creation.”

Though Strahle labeled the post as an advertisement, she did not name the organization footing the bill. That organization is Build American AI, a dark-money group tied to Leading the Future, a $100 million super PAC backed by tech figures associated with companies such as OpenAI and Palantir. In some cases, these figures have directly funded the PAC.

The video is part of a broader coordinated influence campaign funded by Build American AI, rolling out across social media in two phases. The first phase recruited lifestyle influencers like Strahle, who did not respond to a request for comment, to tout the U. S. AI industry and American innovation. The second and current phase, however, is squarely focused on China.

Marketing agencies are now pitching influencers deals worth up to $5,000 per TikTok video to amplify Build American AI’s message that China’s technological rise should be viewed as a threat. According to a staffer at SM4, the influencer marketing agency running the campaign for Build American AI, the objective is to subtly reshape public debate by framing China’s AI progress as a serious danger to American safety and well-being.

“They want a push to mention China and America and why beating China is so important,” the staffer explained.

Sample messaging provided by Build American AI to content creators includes lines such as: “I just learned that China is trying really hard to beat the US in AI. If they do, it could mean that China gets personal data from me and my kids, and take jobs that should be here in the US. In the AI innovation race, I’m Team USA!!!”

WIRED first learned of the campaign after this article’s author was invited by SM4 to participate. Several other content creators who received similar outreach later confirmed the details.

Josh Murphy, an ecologist with more than 130,000 Instagram followers, says he did not respond to SM4’s offer. Though he is “not necessarily against AI,” Murphy found the combination of generic praise for the technology and aggressive anti-China messaging unsettling. “AI can absolutely be utilized for the betterment of humanity,” Murphy said, “but this unregulated industry that we have right now, where it’s just wacky tech bros that are pursuing greed at the expense of everything else, is just not what it’s supposed to be.”

Jesse Hunt, a spokesperson for Leading the Future, defended the campaign. “The United States has an opportunity to remain the global leader in AI innovation, and we’re taking that message to the broadest possible audience through an all-of-the-above communications strategy,” Hunt said. “Dark money doomer groups have spent millions spreading misinformation to the American public, and we won’t let it go unchallenged. We’ll continue to highlight AI’s economic benefits, counter false narratives, and build the coalition needed to advance a national regulatory framework using every tool at our disposal.”

Supporters of Leading the Future include OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman, venture capitalist and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and AI company Perplexity, according to the PAC. Leading the Future reports receiving $140 million in total contributions and commitments, with $51 million available to spend on its pro-AI agenda as of April. The news site NOTUS described the group as a “massive political war chest for the AI industry.”