Anthropic: Is Russia Using AI for Disinformation in CAR?

The Anthropic report, published in September, claims that Russian agents in CAR deliberately used the Claude AI assistant. Its primary reported use was producing content for Radio Lengo Songo, a station that the international investigative collective All Eyes on Wagner states is funded by Russia. This content reportedly promoted pro-Russian narratives, portraying the Central African government and the Africa Corps positively, while criticizing France and the opposition.

Lou Osborn of All Eyes on Wagner, who contributed to the research, suggests these methods align with practices previously observed in connection with the Wagner Group in CAR. He cited instances where arrests of individuals, labeled as proxies for Western intelligence or coup plotters, were followed by online and radio campaigns. Opposition leader Martin Ziguele corroborated this, referencing similar attempts since 2020 to link opposition figures to rebel groups and foreign payments.

Anthropic reported that Claude refused a request to portray opposition figures as armed militants. However, the report did not name the monitored opposition figures, specify the exact nature of the collected data, or identify who received it. Dmitri Sytyi, a representative of the Russian mission in CAR, dismissed the report, stating it lacked concrete facts. Similar allegations concerning AI-driven propaganda have been made in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Sudan, and Mali.