AI-Driven Influence Operation Targets Malaysian Elections

• •Turkish firm marketed AI tool for election manipulation in Malaysia.
• •Operation involved over 1,000 fake accounts and a fabricated news outlet.
• •Anthropic identified the misuse of its Claude model for political influence.

Anthropic has revealed that the Turkish firm BBS Bilisim Teknolojileri operated an AI-based platform to manipulate Malaysian elections. The operation involved over 1,000 fake accounts on X, targeting voters using real census and electoral data to micro-target constituencies based on sensitive social fault lines. The platform was marketed as 'influence-as-a-service,' with capabilities for creating artificial engagement metrics, including a request for one million artificial views for the sitting prime minister's account. Anthropic identified a fabricated news outlet and intelligence dossiers aimed at discrediting opposition figures. The Malaysian communications regulator was approached for a contract, but no evidence of success was found. Anthropic's investigation revealed that the operation's self-reported metrics could not be independently verified. The company has taken steps to shut down the associated accounts.