The Threat Behind "Chinese AI Threat" In Your Feed

A WIRED report revealed that a dark-money campaign has been paying influencers to frame Chinese AI as a threat. Behind the campaign is a group called Build American AI, a dark-money nonprofit and an offshoot of pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future. The super PAC has raised more than $125 million from backers including OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale.

Influencers were reportedly offered $5,000 per TikTok video to push the "Chinese AI threat" narrative. In effect, these videos were advancing the interests of the American AI industry. The real target was American voters.

Anthropic is reported to have embedded hidden, spyware-like code in Claude Code that covertly targets Chinese users. The code then sends information about each user by injecting it into their prompt messages.

This is a serious breach of user trust.

The "Chinese AI threat" is nothing more than an outdated "China threat" theory repackaged for the AI era. The real danger is that it could shift the focus away from AI regulation and ultimately hurt ordinary Americans.