Foreign actors reportedly spread AI-generated content against Firebird data center in Armenia
Foreign state actors reportedly used state media, AI-generated content, and inauthentic accounts to amplify opposition to a data center project by American company Firebird in Armenia. A known Russian covert influence operation shared a video questioning the project's viability, claiming Armenia's electrical grid instability could render it useless.
What happened
A video shared on X by a known covert Russian influence operation questioned the viability of Firebird's data center under construction in Armenia, with the narrator claiming 'The country's electrical grid instability may render it useless.'
Threat intelligence firm Alethea identified scores of articles and posts on social media pushing converging messages from Russia, China, and Iran that America is hoarding power and water for elites while ordinary people suffer, with each country tailoring messaging to their geopolitical interests.
Reported impact
The campaigns have raised alarms in Washington, where A.I. is seen as a top issue heading into midterm elections. According to a former Office of the Director of National Intelligence official, the goal is to 'deepen our divisions in order to dent our appeal and weaken us from within.'
Index analysis
The efforts included state media outlets running segments about data center resistance, AI-generated content created with ChatGPT by people in China depicting data centers as causing soaring electricity bills, and inauthentic social accounts amplifying the same messages.
Analysts identified this as part of a repeatable foreign playbook: finding a raw nerve in local opposition, flooding it with echoing content, and letting the fracture widen, with the goal of turning local grievances into national narratives that weaken U.S. infrastructure and government trust.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.