The Pentagon wants to use AI technology to create deepfake online personas that are indistinguishable from real people
The United States' Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is seeking companies to help create fake online users, known as deepfakes, that are so realistic that neither people nor computers can tell they're fake. This is according to a document reviewed by The Intercept.
The plan, found in a 76-page document from the Department of Defense’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), lists advanced tech that the U.S.'s top secret military teams want. It says that Special Operations Forces (SOF) are looking for technology to create convincing fake online identities for use on social media and other websites.
The document explains that JSOC wants to make fake online profiles that “appear to be a unique individual that is recognizable as human but does not exist in the real world,” These profiles would have “multiple expressions” and “Government Identification quality photos.”
The document also says that, besides photos, JSOC wants to create fake videos so that “the solution should include facial & background imagery, facial & background video, and audio layers,”. These deepfake videos would include "selfie videos" of the fake people, with made-up backgrounds that look real. The goal is for these videos to be so convincing “to create a virtual environment undetectable by social media algorithms.”
The Pentagon has already been caught using fake social media accounts to push its agenda. In 2022, Meta and Twitter took down a network of phony accounts run by U.S. Central Command, some of which used profile pictures made with methods similar to what JSOC wants. A 2024 Reuters investigation also found that Special Operations Command used fake social media users to make people distrust China's Covid vaccine.
Last year, Special Operations Command (SOCOM) showed interest in using video "deepfakes." These are fake videos or images made to look real, used for things like influencing people, spreading false information, and disrupting communication. Deepfakes are created with machine learning software that studies and recreates human faces and bodies. This year, SOCOM is looking into software like StyleGAN, which was launched by Nvidia in 2019 and used by the website “This Person Does Not Exist” to create fake people. Not long after, Facebook removed fake accounts using this software for profile pictures. Now, researchers are working on both creating better deepfakes and finding ways to detect them. Some government services ask people to upload a selfie video to prove they’re real, which SOCOM may be interested in bypassing with this technology.
The document says that special operations troops “will use this capability to gather information from public online forums,” but it doesn't explain exactly how these fake online users will be used.
This detailed list shows that the United States is looking for the same technologies it criticizes when used by other countries. National security officials have called the use of deepfakes by other nations a serious threat.
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