U.S. Sanctions IRGC and GRU Affiliates for Using Deepfakes and AI in 2024 Election Interference

Dec 31, 2024, 04:40 PM

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia accused of attempting to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election. The sanctioned entities include a subsidiary of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Cognitive Design Production Center, and a Moscow-based affiliate of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, along with its director Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin. According to the Treasury, these groups used deepfakes and AI tools to stoke socio-political tensions and influence the U.S. electorate. Bradley T. Smith, the Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated that the governments of Iran and Russia have targeted U.S. election processes and institutions, seeking to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns. The U.S. remains committed to countering such threats to its democracy.